by Mark MacAllister
Page 5 : Current Concerns
Current Concerns
In addition to the issue of gunshot mortality, the USFWS is concerned about several other things that could harm wild red wolf populations in the near future. One of those concerns regards the current and future destruction of red wolf habitat. As we know, wolves use a variety of lands for habitat, including wetlands, pine forests, crop land and pocosin. They also use wooded areas for dens and pup rearing, and "edge habitats" (a zone where two habitats meet) for travel and hunting. These areas all feature a relatively small number of human beings in the area, and are also distant from roads; they also tend to have an abundance of prey and are generally "wild" or rural settings.
Even though red wolves are willing to live in many types of habitat, it is also true that large areas of their habitat are threatened. The biggest problem is habitat fragmentation—dividing up large habitat areas into smaller areas with fences, roads, subdivisions, and other human developments. As the towns and human populations in and around the recovery area continue to grow, the concern is that large parcels of red wolf territory will be whittled down to areas too small to support wolves.
Canid diseases are a potential problem as well. The fact that a captive red wolf population exists means that researchers don't necessarily have to worry about a "sudden extinction" of wild red wolves due to disease. Also, we can rest assured that most of the wild wolves are vaccinated against canid diseases, often when they are puppies or when they are captured for collaring. Still, wild red wolves are vulnerable to serious diseases, including distemper, parvo, mange, heartworm and rabies—the same sorts of diseases domestic dogs can suffer from.
A way to address the disease issue, of course, is to establish more wild populations in other places. Also, people living and hunting around the recovery area need to be as cautious as possible about their hunting dogs and about coyotes imported into the area for hunting. In short, canid diseases have not been a problem for wolves in the past, but they are still something to be careful about.
A third concern is one that has been with the red wolf program for a long time, that being the problem of hybridization with Eastern coyotes. For several reasons—including the importation of coyotes for hunting and the loss of red wolves to gunshots—there has been a large increase in the number of coyotes in the red wolf recovery area in 2006 and 2007. From 1999 to 2005, an average of six coyotes a year were captured in red wolf territory. During 2006, though, 34 coyotes were captured, and 14 were captured in first half of 2007. These coyotes were usually sterilized and then returned to their territory in order to hold it until a red wolf could take over. The number of hybrid litters showed a relatively large increase in 2006, but then a decline in 2007. Still, the sheer number of coyotes in the red wolf recovery area is reason to worry that the hybridization problem is still significant.
Finally, weather and climate remain concerns for red wolf managers. The Alligator River region is prone to hurricanes and tropical storms and, in fact, the last major storm in the region led directly to the deaths of two wolves. For the long-term, the concern is that global warming and rising sea levels may lead to loss of habitat and the decline of prey species favored by red wolves.
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