Ruminations

Red Wolf DNA in Wolf/Coyote Hybrids

"Overall, it's incredibly rare to rediscover animals in a region where they were thought to be extinct and it's even more exciting to show that a piece of an endangered genome has been preserved in the wild."
"I think we were all genuinely surprised that there was any indication of red wolf genes in either of these samples. We get odd samples shipped to us fairly regularly, and most of the time they turn out to be coyotes. … Initially I was extremely skeptical that the analysis would turn up anything interesting, which in the end turned out to be very humbling."
"I think of myself as an expert on these animals, but in reality most of the time I’m just looking at my computer. It’s the people on the ground, who watch these animals regularly, who have made the major discovery."

"Hybridization is relatively common in natural systems and does not always have negative consequences."
Elizabeth Heppenheimer, biologist, Princeton University

"[It's exciting to have found] this unique and fascinating medium-sized wolf. [The survival of the red wolf genes] without much help from us for the last 40 years is wonderful news."
"From a practical conservation biology standpoint, these animals have special DNA and they deserve to be protected."
Ron Sutherland, conservation scientist, Wildlands Network, North Carolina

"We can get excited, but in my mind, we really need to let science do its due diligence to determine what this animal is."
Kim Wheeler, executive director, North Carolina Red Wolf Coalition

Taya Johnston/Getty

Once common across a region extending from Texas to the south, into the Southeast and up to the Northeast, the red wolf, about 80 pounds of weight at maturity, was classified federally in the endangered category in 1967 in the United States. By 1980 the genus was declared extinct in the wild. A remnant population in Texas and Louisiana was gathered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the 1970s which resulted in a successful captive breeding program.

In 1986 the wolves from the breeding program saw themselves integrated with an experimental wild population in North Carolina, a group that has been steadily declining since its peak at an estimated 120 to 130 wolves in 2006. According to a federal report out in April of last year, of that number only 40 remained. Representing part of captive breeding programs, an additional two hundred red wolves live in zoos and wildlife facilities.

Environmental groups argued in a lawsuit that federal authorities embarking on an effort to reduce the territory of the North Carolina wild group were in violation of law, and a federal judge in November agreed, ruling that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife also violated the Endangered Species Act, authorizing private landowners to kill the canine predators, even those who weren't a threat to humans, livestock or pets.

And now researchers have announced the presence of a pack of wild canines near the beaches of the Texas Gulf Coast, carrying a notable presence of red wolf genes, a discovery that elicited great surprise since the animal had been declared close to 40 years ago to be extinct in the wild. Wildlife biologists have been led to develop a new acknowledgement that the red wolf DNA is resilient despite decades of human hunting, loss of habitat and other factors leading them to near-decimation.

A Princeton team involved in the research on the pack discovered in Texas on Galveston Island had their study published in the scientific journal Genes. The Galveston canines' genetic analysis reveals them to be a hybrid of red wolf and coyote. Labelling the animal correctly at this point requires additional testing, pointed out biologist Dr. Heppenheimer of Princeton University, involved in the research.

Similar DNA findings in wild canines in southwestern Louisiana bolsters anticipation of conservationists concerned by the dwindling number of red wolves in North Carolina which had represented the only known pack existing in the wild. According to Dr. Sutherland, the Galveston canines' findings have succeeded in quashing a decades-old impression of red wolves being predators overwhelmed by the superiority of numbers of coyotes. The Galveston group's DNA is not found in captive populations.

To protect them, conservation easements restricting development along portions of the Gulf Coast are to be viewed as an essential first step. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Galveston discovery, while "interesting", will not result in any instant response as "we do not anticipate any regulatory changes or implications in Texas at this time." According to conservationists, policy-makers are required to evince a greater appreciation for hybrid animals.