Through my internship with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge (CRNWR), I was honored with the opportunity to work with one of the most endangered species in the world -- the red wolf. The refuge has six of these wolves, a significant portion of the estimated 250 left in the world.

I helped to feed them and maintain their enclosure, and taught classes to the public while the refuge biologists studied their habits to improve their perilous situation in the wild. However, this summer, I learned that the Department of the Interior will dramatically scale back the Red Wolf Recovery Program, despite the fact that a recent program review by the independent Wildlife Management Institute found that the program was successful but needed to be expanded.

Without the USFWS’s help, the red wolf stands on the brink of extinction. I am asking the USFWS to take back its decision to scale back support for the RWRP and continue their efforts to save this great American Animal.

Because of habitat destruction, mass hunting, and interbreeding with coyotes, the red wolf was pushed nearly to extinction in the mid-1900’s.  In 1973, the red wolf was declared an endangered species, and the USFWS immediately began a search for the remaining wolves. The fourteen that were found became the foundation of the breeding program that would become the lifeline of the species. In 1978, a male and female were released on Bulls Island, South Carolina. They produced two pups, before swimming off the island. Although only two pups were born, this experiment demonstrated the feasibility of the reimplementation of the species to the wild.  The project was then moved to the Alligator River Refuge in North Carolina, where the population of wild red wolves has increased to about 50.

Without the breeding program that eliminates the coyote population and protects the red wolf from hunting, the population will almost surely diminish completely.

Please join me in calling on the Department of the Interior to expand, rather than destroy, its Red Wolf Recovery Program. It’s the only chance these magnificent animals have, and it is in our hands.