The Red Wolf, Canis rufus, looks more 
like a Coyote than a wolf.
It is 16 inches high and about 5 feet long and weighs about 60
pounds. Compare that to the grey wolf who is about 30 inches
tall and 6 feet long and weighs about 100 pounds.
Red wolves mate in the spring and produce
a litter of 3 to 7 pups. The gestation is about 2 months. Both
parents tend the young. Pups tend to leave the den at about 6
weeks.
The principle prey includes deer, rabbits,
raccoons and smaller rodents like mice.
Red wolves were brought to the edge of
extinction by human interference, loss of habitat, inbreeding
with coyotes and wild dogs. A breeding program begun in the 1970s
prevented its extinction.
As a result of the breeding program, Red
Wolves have been re-introduced into the Alligator River National
Wildlife Refuge, which is on an island off the coast of North
Carolina. They have also been released on Bull's Island, South
Carolina, St. Vincent Island, Florida and Horn Island, Mississippi.
They have also been re-introduced into the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park.
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