Endangered Red Wolf
by Kathy White
Title
Endangered Red Wolf
Artist
Kathy White
Medium
Photograph - Photography--greeting Cards Or Notes Are Cheaper By The Dozen!
Description
"Endangered Red Wolf" photograph was taken by me at the Chattanooga Arboretum and Nature Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The red wolves housed at CA&NC are on loan from the US Fish and Wildlife Services as a part of the federal species survival plan (SSP) for the red wolves. The red wolf is a critically endangered mammal and efforts are being made to restore this species to its original habitat. CA&NC has three enclosures which house the wolves, one is off exhibit and designated for breeding, the other two usually contain two to three wolves for public viewing. When David and I were there, we saw four red wolves in two separate enclosures. They had good sized enclosures to walk about and they were very curious of us. We were there at just the right time, on a snowy weekday when we were the only visitors. We got to sit on a bench and watch their activity and photograph them when we could. They are such beautiful animals....I did not want to leave. They never seemed aggressive, just wanted to know what we were doing and watched us, as we watched them!
The one in the photograph was my favorite that kept coming to see us, very inquisitive. The red wolf’s historic range covered the southeastern portion of the United States, reaching as far west as Texas and north to Illinois. Their preferred habitat is warm, moist, and densely vegetated; although they were also present in pine forest, bottom land hardwood forests, coastal prairies, and marshes.
They are not that large, 4 - 5 feet in length from tip of nose to tip of tail; approximately 26 inches tall at the shoulder; 40 - 75 lbs on average.
As I said, they were beautiful creatures. Red Wolves are mostly brown and buff colored with some black along their backs, often with a reddish, cinnamon color on their ears, head and legs. Red wolves are smaller than gray wolves and larger than coyotes. They have tall pointed ears and long legs with large feet. Even though we did not hear these, they have high pitched howls, low grunts or barks.
Their eating habits include white-tailed deer, raccoons, and smaller mammals such as rabbits, rodents, and nutria. The red wolf lives 7 to 8 years in the wild and up to 15 years in captivity.
Breeding season is once per year, January through March. 1 - 9 pups are born 63 days later in April or May. Their eyes open at about 10 days, and it is another few weeks before the sire and dam allow the pups to emerge from the den. Pups remain with their parents until they find a mate of their own, usually at about 2 years of age. Red wolves are generally monogamous, and will remain with the same mate for many years.
To protect the species from extinction, the initiated efforts to locate and capture as many Red Wolves as possible for the purposes of establishing a program to breed the species in captivity and one day reintroduce the species into a portion of its former range.
Uploaded
April 10th, 2013
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Comments (3)
Kathy White
Thank you very much, Randy Rosenberger, for the feature in our group Wisconsin Flowers and Scenery! I really appreciate your continued support and kind words for our photography! :)