The red wolf is the most endangered wolf in the world, and for a while it looked as though the wild population might vanish entirely - down to as few as seven animals in the 2010s [1]. This spring brought four new litters [1].
The US Fish and Wildlife Service's recovery program confirmed the litters in the refuges and private lands of coastal North Carolina, with twelve to sixteen pups surviving their first months against a wild adult population of just twenty-two [1]. Three of the four litters came from breeding pairs that also had pups last year - a sign the population is beginning to reproduce with some consistency [1].
One litter was born on private land whose owner had signed up for a program called 'Prey for the Pack,' which rewards landowners for letting wolves den on their property [1]. A species that was nearly gone is, for a second year running, raising a new generation in the wild [1].
