Only 18 Red Wolves Exist in the US Wild. Rescue Efforts Are on

Red wolves used to frolic throughout the eastern United States, their habitats stretching from Pennsylvania to Texas. Now, there are fewer than two dozen left in the wild, settled in a handful of counties in northeastern North Carolina. Experts are trying their best to save the endangered canine from extinction, attempting to compensate for the human-driven causes behind the population's decline.

• Numbers: Per WAVY and the News & Observer, there are only 18 adult red wolves left in the great outdoors, down from about 120 in 2012. At one point in recent years, there were only seven. About 260 exist in captivity at various zoos and refuges.

• Status: The red wolf was first listed as "threatened with extinction" the year after 1966's Endangered Species Preservation Act, one of the first species to be designated as such, per the US Fish and Wildlife Service. By 1980, Canis rufus was declared extinct in the wild, though breeding in captivity continued, per the Washington Post. The species is listed at the moment as "endangered."
• Behind the decline: Wolves getting hit by cars is the largest cause of death, while hunters say they sometimes mistake the wolves for coyotes, which look similar. Some wolves are even starting to breed with coyotes, which dilutes the species further. Scientists also point to suspected poisonings and climate change, which could cause future habitat loss and put the wolves in even more peril.
• Challenging venture: Those trying to save the wolves acknowledge what they're up against. The Post notes the recent elation of conservationists when five pups were born in the wild, only to be followed by the father being killed by a vehicle, and the mother abandoning the litter. "It's a serious roller coaster," the FWS' Joe Madison, who heads up North Carolina's red wolf recovery initiative, tells the Washington Post. "It takes a toll."
• Remedies: Officials have started to set some of the captive red wolves free in the wild, while a longer-term recovery plan released last year by the FSW hopes to establish "at least three viable populations" of red wolves—an effort that could take half a century and cost "several hundred million dollars," per the Post.
• More efforts: Federal officials are also pushing to install wildlife crossings, especially along Highway 64, which cuts through a local refuge, and the FSW has placed reflective orange tape on the collars of red wolves so they're not mistaken for coyotes. There are also restrictions on coyote hunting in the five North Carolina counties where the wolves are found, which some landowners are pushing back on. Still, "the hope is that this time we are going to get it right," Ron Sutherland, chief scientist for the Wildlands Network, tells the Post. Sherry Samuels of Durham's Museum of Life and Science tells the Indy Week: "Empathy is going to save this species."

More on the red wolf here, and efforts to save it here and here. (More red wolves stories.)