Editing Red wolf (section)

{{Short description|Canid native to the southeastern United States}}
{{About|the wild canine}}
{{use dmy dates|cs1-dates=ly|date=May 2023}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = [[Holocene]] 10,000 years ago – present<ref name=nowak2002/>
| status = CR
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=IUCN />
| status2 = LE
| status2_system = ESA
| status2_ref = <ref name=ecos>{{Cite web|url=https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/37|title =Red wolf (''Canis rufus'')|website=Environmental Conservation Online System|publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service|access-date=30 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Federal Register|32|4001}}</ref>
| image = Red wolf (4531335218).jpg
| image_caption = A red wolf showing typical coloration
| genus = Canis
| species = rufus
| authority = [[John James Audubon|Audubon]] & [[John Bachman|Bachman]], 1851<ref name=audubon1851/>
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision = * [[Extinction|{{Extinct}}]]''[[Florida black wolf|C. r. floridanus]]''<ref name=goldman1937/>
* ''[[Gregory's wolf|C. r. gregoryi]]''<ref name=goldman1937/>
* {{Extinct}}''C. r. rufus''<ref name=goldman1937/>
}}

The '''red wolf''' ('''''Canis rufus''''')<ref name=IUCN /><ref name=goldman1937/><ref name=MDD/> is a [[Canis|canine]] native to the [[southeastern United States]]. Its size is intermediate between the [[coyote]] (''Canis latrans'') and [[Wolf|gray wolf]] (''Canis lupus'').<ref name=paradiso1971/>

The red wolf's taxonomic classification as being a separate species has been contentious for nearly a century, being classified either as a subspecies of the gray wolf ''Canis lupus rufus'',<ref name=COL2018r/><ref name=wozencraft2005/> or a [[coywolf]] (a [[genetic admixture]] of wolf and coyote). Because of this, it is sometimes excluded from endangered species lists, despite its critically low numbers.<ref name=paradiso1972 /><ref name=woodward1980 /> Under the [[Endangered Species Act of 1973]], the [[U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]] recognizes the red wolf as an [[endangered species]] and grants it protected status.<ref name=ecos/> Since 1996, the [[IUCN]] has listed the red wolf as a [[Critically Endangered]] species;<ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=Phillips, M. |date=2018 |title=''Canis rufus'' |errata=2020 |page=e.T3747A163509841 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T3747A163509841.en |access-date=15 June 2022}}</ref> however, it is not listed in the [[CITES#Appendices|CITES Appendices]] of endangered species.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|title=Appendices|website=CITES|access-date=26 November 2021}}</ref>