New Red Wolf Habitat Opens

A new red wolf habitat has opened at the Endangered Wolf Center nonprofit wildlife facility in Eureka, Missouri. The Endangered Wolf Center created the new habitat for the American Red Wolf, one of the most endangered canids in the world. The habitat will now serve as a breeding and pre-release site at the Center’s facility on Washington University’s Tyson Research Center. This secluded environment is ideal for this expansion as it is suitable for breeding American red wolves and will help them maintain natural instincts to ensure successful future reintroductions into the wild.

The habitat’s first residents are a female named Cirilla and a male named Ash. Staff members say the two are getting settled in their new home and enjoying one another's company! Recently, four American red wolves (Canis rufus) from the Endangered Wolf Center, Wolf Conservation Center and Wolf Haven International were released in a protected refuge of North Carolina.

This collaborative effort is the first time since 1998 that adult American red wolves were released directly into the recovery area of Eastern North Carolina from managed care facilities. Over the past 14 years, the already critically endangered wild population plummeted to fewer than 20 American red wolves in the wild. Before these wolves were released, there were 10 known collared red wolves and an estimated 17-20 total red wolves in North Carolina.  

*Pictured above: The opening ceremony and ribbon-cutting of "The Slavik Family Foundation's Endangered Species Breeding Site" includes (left to right): Endangered Wolf Center CEO Virginia Busch, Board Chair Dr. Rhiannon McKnight, Animal Keeper Rachel Crosby, Development Director Rachel Broom, Executive Director Mark Cross and Board Trustee Marguerite Cotsworth Garrick, daughter of Marlin and Carol Perkins (founders of the Endangered Wolf Center).