Two red wolves, Charlotte (red wolf F2121) and Veronica (red wolf F1858), recently gave birth to ten rare and special babies at the Wolf Conservation Center (WCC), a sanctuary in upstate New York. The tiny pups are not even a few weeks old, but people have already fallen in love with them. The birth of the cubs is a really great news for their species.
Wolf Conservation Center
The red wolf has nearly been fully wiped out from the wild. In 1980, they were declared “functionally extinct,” but with efforts to reintroduce captive red wolves in the wild, it was hoped that their population would grow eventually.
In 2014, only 130 red wolves lived in the wild. It is believed that there could be less than 30 of them left now.
According to Wikipedia, “it has been listed by IUCN as a critically endangered species since 1996. It is considered the rarest species of wolf and is one of the five most endangered species of wolf in the world.”
Hunting and habitat loss has affected the red wolf population dramatically. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began scaling back their efforts to protect the species after years of trying to bring them back and repopulate.
Wolf Conservation Center
The USFSW recently put out a statement regarding their efforts to protect and repopulate the red wolves, saying that their plan wasn’t successful. However, wildlife conservationists think that the plan wasn’t given a full chance to work to begin with.
“Because of USFWS’s own actions/inactions, the program struggles today,” Maggie Howell, executive director of the WCC, said. “After 2014, the USFWS stopped reintroducing captive-born red wolves into the reintroduced population, ceased implementing the Red Wolf Adaptive Management Plan that limited hybridization via management of coyotes, and removed wolves from private lands and issued take permits (kill permits) to landowners.”
Nobody knows what will happen to this beautiful species, but the ten newborn red wolf cubs will be well taken care of at the WCC.
People all over the world can watch them play and grow via their live webcams. The cameras even managed to capture a very sweet moment where Charlotte ‘kisses’ her mate, Jack, just after she delivered the little ones.
The news of their birth is exciting, however, it is sad that these pups will probably never know what it’s like to live in the wild, since there’s no safe place for red wolves unless they are in captivity or a sanctuary like the WCC.
“While these adorable pups are priceless contributions to the recovery of their rare species (especially the genetic health of the captive population), USFWS needs to recommit to preserving the wild and naturally functioning red wolf population it has established,” Howell said.
Wolf Conservation Center
“Beyond being cute, the pocket-sized wolf pups represent our active participation in an effort to save a species on the brink of extinction,” Howell added. “It’s our goal to use moments like these to further educate the public on the importance of protecting these wonderful animals.”
Wolf Conservation Center
To help protect this species, consider making a donation to the Wolf Conservation Center. You can also call upon your state representatives to take action to help save the red wolf.
Источник: theanimalspage.com
