Chattanooga's Nature Center and Arboretum are key to red wolf survival
The beautiful and cunning red wolves are animals that are native to North America, and are in the biological family of canids, which are meat-eating animals that include wolves, jackals, foxes, coyotes, and the domestic dog. Red wolves are far more than just aesthetic creatures that are pretty to look at, they are also Apex predators, which means that they keep and restore natural order to the ecosystems that surround their natural habitats. By preying on the nuisance rodents and white tail deer, the natural order of the land is maintained by these stunning creatures.
Red wolves are rather shy when it comes to human encounters, and they are no threat to mankind. This particular species of wolf has historically been known to have inhabited the United States mostly in the Southeastern Region of the country, but it is believed that their habitats once stretched as far as Pennsylvania, and as wide as Texas. Over the years the population has severely dwindled. Due to predator control programs, poachers, hybrid contamination, misidentification by hunters that think that they are coyotes, and habitat alteration, red wolves have been pushed toward extinction as a species as a whole.
According to the National Wildlife Federation, red wolves were placed on the endangered species list in 1967, and an effort to restore the species of genetically pure red wolves was initialized by the US Fish and Wildlife Service a few years later. In 1980 the US Fish and Wildlife Service declared red wolves extinct in the wild, and they would become a part of the Federal Species Survival Plan, which is considered a captive breeding program, and is still intact today. The efforts of the plan would consist of skilled biologists rounding up as many of the red wolves that they could find, and keeping only the purebred wolves. Out of roughly four hundred animals that were gathered, only fourteen were found to be pure, the rest were coyotes or hybrid species. Nearly all of the red wolves in existence derive from the fourteen that were initially captured.
Over time, the fourteen red wolves bred enough offspring in captivity for a restoration program to be initiated. In 1987 the red wolves were released and reintroduced into an experimental and controlled area at Eastern North Carolina’s Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, which is a 152,000-acre area that consists of a mix of agricultural land, marshland, and mixed forest. The process was a success and since, the red wolves have been released back into their natural habitat with their population increasing exponentially.
Since the Federal Species Survival Plan started to save the red wolf species roughly fifty years ago, leaps and bounds have been made in terms of restoring the species, but they still fall in at eighth place on the endangered species list. Nearly all red wolves in existence are being raised in controlled situations, the only state believed to have any wild red wolves is North Carolina, and the number of them is roughly only fifty. The organizations provide a safe atmosphere for the red wolves to live and reproduce, before hopefully being reinstated back into the wild to restore the natural order of the species, as well as the ecosystem.
Doing their part locally to restore the red wolf population is the Nature Center and Arboretum at Reflection Riding. The nature center is host to red wolves that are on loan from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, as part of the survival plan. Within the last nine months, one of the mating pairs produced three wolf puppies, which brought the nature center’s red wolf count up to nine. The new additions to the pack are two girls and a boy, a good sign that there will potentially be more to come in the near future.
Spread across the country, there are forty-three red wolf species survival plan program participants that host a steady population of about two hundred red wolves. Breeding in captivity has been challenging for the program participants, so the success achieved by the Nature Center and Arboretum at Reflection Riding is a phenomenal accomplishment. With the facility being a leading member of the program with their nine red wolves, hopes are high for continued reproduction at their facility.
The Director of Wildlife at Reflection Riding, Tish Gailmard, is an advocate for the survival of the red wolf species, as well as a key ingredient to the success of the program at their facility. Her understanding of the animal’s behavior is something that can’t be taught. She has a natural ability to connect with all of the animals at the nature center, but she has an extra special ability to connect with the wolves. While it is hard to prove that she is the reason that red wolf puppies are being born at their specific location as opposed to many of the other participating programs, the fact of the matter remains.
With the captive breeding participants doing all that they can do to continue reproduction of the red wolf species, they are still fighting an uphill battle. Unfortunately for the red wolves, their life span is roughly eight years. In order to combat their rather rapid cycle of life, reproduction from the remaining animals is absolutely essential for the survival of the species.
Another devastating factor that has been keeping the red wolf population from increasing are poachers and hunters. Recent news stories have regularly revealed the shooting deaths of the endangered red wolves. It is pretty common knowledge that the red wolves are on the endangered species list, and that killing them is a federal crime, but people keep shooting them anyways, making the species numbers difficult to increase.
While increasing the population isn’t easy, the benefits of saving red wolves are endless. Being an umbrella species, the Southeastern ecosystem relies on the red wolves predator-related roles to enhance diversity, balance, and stability that maintain other wildlife, plants, landscaping and habitat features.
Another major reason to fight to keep the red wolf species alive is to provide the world with a service of saving an entire species. Extinction is a really big deal, and the importance of placing an extreme emphasis on restoring a species cannot be expressed enough. The educational angle provided by the red wolves is extraordinary. This is one of the few species that nearly faced full on extinction, and was revived.
With red wolf survival plan participants only sporadically located across the country, having a facility right here in Chattanooga, just minutes away from downtown is a fascinating feature of this glorious city. For people to be able to firsthand witness creatures that merely equal roughly three hundred as a species is simply marvelous.
Reflection Riding is a nonprofit organization that relies on support from the community to provide all of the wonderful services that they provide for humans, and animals alike. Membership to the facility has some tremendous benefits, and the money associated with the fees goes to a remarkable cause.
There are many ways to help, volunteers are greatly appreciated and frequently utilized by the facility, the critical annual fund makes it possible for the different departments to have proper funding and supplies. The Red Wolf Club provides purchasers different package options with various incentives. Other means come from tribute gifts, gift planning, natural weddings, corporate sponsorship, in kind donations, and designed donations.
As a community it is important that we bind together for the things that really matter. We all need to join hands to unite to do all that we can do to ensure that the nature center, and places like it, are provided with all that they need to succeed on their mission to save these resilient, and elegant creatures. We have the power to make a difference, so let’s rise together and help this species get back to full strength.
Photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service