Red Wolf Restoration Celebrates 25th Anniversary

September 14, 2012

Red wolves arrive at the airport in Manteo, North Carolina in the 1980s.

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the reintroduction of the red wolf. On this day in 1987, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service took a giant leap forward in endangered species conservation simply by opening the pen holding a male and female pair of red wolves. Today, about 100 red wolves roam their native habitats in five northeastern North Carolina counties.

The red wolf (Canis rufus) is one of the world’s most endangered wild canids. In 1980, the Service declared red wolves extinct in the wild. Once common throughout the southeastern United States, red wolf populations were decimated by the 1960s due to intensive predator control programs and loss of habitat. A remnant population of red wolves was found along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana. After being declared an endangered species in 1967, efforts were initiated to locate and capture as many wild red wolves as possible. Of the 17 remaining wolves captured by biologists, 14 became the founders of a successful captive breeding program.

The first litter of red wolves born in captivity occurred in 1977. By 1987, enough red wolves were bred in captivity to begin a restoration program on Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern North Carolina. Since then, the experimental population area has expanded to include three national wildlife refuges, a Department of Defense bombing range, state-owned lands, and private property, spanning a total of 1.7 million acres.

In addition to the wild population, approximately 200 red wolves comprise the Species Survival Plan captive breeding program in sites across the United States, still an essential element of red wolf recovery. Interbreeding with the coyote (Canis latrans), a species not native to North Carolina, has been recognized as a significant and detrimental threat affecting restoration of red wolves in this section of their historical home range. Currently, adaptive management efforts are making good progress in reducing the threat of coyotes while building the wild red wolf population in northeastern North Carolina.

To learn more about red wolves and our efforts to recover them, please visit www.fws.gov/redwolf.

We'd love for you to become a part of our online community about red wolf recovery. Join the conversation: like Red Wolf Recovery on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Two Montgomery County North Carolina Dams Removed from the Little River Basin

September 13, 2012

Biologists search for mussels in Densons Creek, Montgomery County, North Carolina. Credit: Mark Cantrell/USFWS

Two trackhoe excavators pound away at the narrow concrete and rock wall of the decrepit Troy Reservoir Dam No. 1, which stretches across Montgomery County's Densons Creek, a tributary of the Little River. On a nearby bridge a small group gathers to watch their efforts to improve the health of this stream bear fruit.

"Removing this dam is an opportunity to help the town of Troy further enhance Densons Creek's natural aquatic community, in turn helping meet local economic and conservation goals," said U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biologist Laura Fogo, who has spearheaded the project. "The removal of Troy Reservoir Dam No. 1 is part of a larger, landscape-scale effort to restore the streams of the Little River watershed."

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Nearly $3 Million in Funding for the Southeast's Vanishing Longleaf Pine Forests Announced

16 projects selected to receive support will expand and enhance the longleaf ecosystem on public and private lands across its historic range

September 4, 2012

Well-managed longleaf pine. Photo: Randy Browning, USFWS. View more sizes.

Milton, Fla. — The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today announced $2.88 million in grants to restore vanishing longleaf pine forests in the Florida Panhandle and six other southeastern states, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The Florida Forest Service and other recipients will use the funds to re-plant and enhance thousands of acres of longleaf pine, which provides habitat for many endangered species.

The grants are part of the NFWF Longleaf Stewardship Fund, a landmark public-private partnership that includes the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Forest Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Southern Company. With the combined financial and technical resources of this group, the Fund will support accelerated restoration of the longleaf pine ecosystem and implementation of the Range-Wide Conservation Plan for Longleaf Pine, as part of the America's Longleaf Restoration Initiative.

The longleaf pine ecosystem once covered more than 90 million acres across nine states, from Virginia to Texas. Today, only three percent of the original acreage remains, with 29 threatened and endangered species depending on the shrinking habitat, including the red-cockaded woodpecker, the gopher tortoise and the indigo (pine) snake.

Contine reading on NFWF.org...

Federal and State Agencies Reaffirm their Commitment to the Recovery of the Endangered Puerto Rican Parrot

August 30, 2012

Puerto Rican parrot. Photo: USFWS.

The Puerto Rican parrot, Amazona vittata, was once abundant in Puerto Rico, including the islands of Culebra, Vieques and Mona. This parrot is one of the most endangered birds in the world and the last species of psittacine extant and native to the United States. The wild population of Puerto Rican parrots is currently confined to the Luquillo Mountains, mostly the El Yunque National Forest, in eastern Puerto Rico and the Rio Abajo Commonwealth Forest, in north central Puerto Rico.

On August 10, 2012, at an interagency meeting, leaders from the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (PRDNER), the US Forest Service (USFS), and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) reaffirmed their commitment to the Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Program, and their relationship as collaborators, by renewing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The agreement commits the agencies to complete major milestone targets as described in the Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Plan. The MoU also describes the values and principles underpinning the collaboration.

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Memorandum of Understanding

Snake Smuggler Busted in Orlando

August 24, 2012

Snakes recovered from successful smuggling interdiction. Photo: Customs and Border Protection.

On August 23, 2012, Mateus Dal Maso, Jr. pled guilty to attempting to export 27 snakes from the Orlando International Airport, Florida.

He was sentenced to one year of supervised release when within the geographical confines of the United States (must report to probation within 72 hours of arrival), two days incarceration with two days served, a $25 fee, and a fine of $6,000.

Dal Maso had purchased the 27 snakes -- one Ball Python, seven Boa Constrictors, and 19 various color morph corn snakes -- at the National Reptile Breeders Expo in Daytona Beach, Florida, held Aug 17-19, 2012.  He hid the snakes in stereo speakers which he checked as luggage.  The snakes never made it aboard the plane at the Orlando International Airport.  Dal Maso did not have the proper supporting documentation to import snakes into Brazil.  He admitted he was going to bring the snakes, which he valued at $10,000, back to Brazil to breed them for commercial purposes.

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See photos of "Snakes (Almost) on a Plane!" on Flickr