Editing Red wolf (section)

===21st century status===
Over 30&nbsp;facilities participate in the red wolf [[Species Survival Plan]] and oversee the breeding and reintroduction of over 150&nbsp;wolves.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pdza.org/page.php?id=296 |title=Red Wolf Conservation |publisher=Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium |place=Tacoma, WA |access-date=2011-09-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524225431/http://www.pdza.org/page.php?id=296 |archive-date=2011-05-24}}</ref>

In 2007, the USFWS estimated that 300&nbsp;red wolves remained in the world, with 207 of those in captivity.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |url=http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/five_year_review/doc1155.pdf |year=2007 |title=Red Wolf (''Canis rufus'') 5&nbsp;Year Status Review: Summary and Evaluation}}</ref> By late 2020, the number of wild individuals had shrunk to only about 7 radio-collared and a dozen uncollared individuals, with no wild pups born since 2018. This decline has been linked to shooting and poisoning of wolves by landowners, and suspended conservation efforts by the USFWS.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-18 |title=Wildlife Groups Challenge Red Wolf Rules {{!}} Coastal Review Online |url=https://www.coastalreview.org/2020/11/wildlife-groups-challenge-red-wolf-rules/|access-date=2021-01-13 |website=www.coastalreview.org|language=en-US}}</ref>

A 2019 analysis by the [[Center for Biological Diversity]] of available habitat throughout the red wolf's former range found that over 20,000&nbsp;square miles of [[public land]] across five sites had viable habitat for red wolves to be reintroduced to in the future. These sites were chosen based on prey levels, isolation from coyotes and human development, and connectivity with other sites. These sites include: the [[Apalachicola National Forest|Apalachicola]] and [[Osceola National Forest|Osceola]] National Forests along with the [[Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge]] and nearby protected lands; numerous national parks and national forests in the [[Appalachian Mountains]] including the [[Monongahela National Forest|Monongahela]], [[George Washington and Jefferson National Forests|George Washington & Jefferson]], [[Cherokee National Forest|Cherokee]], [[Pisgah National Forest|Pisgah]], [[Nantahala National Forest|Nantahala]], [[Chattahoochee–Oconee National Forest|Chattahoochee]], and [[Talladega National Forest|Talladega]] National Forests along with [[Shenandoah National Park]] and the lower elevations of [[Great Smoky Mountains National Park]]; [[Croatan National Forest|Croatoan National Forest]] and Hofmann Forest on the [[North Carolina]] coast, and the [[Ozark–St. Francis National Forest|Ozark]], [[Ouachita National Forest|Ouatchita]], and [[Mark Twain National Forest|Mark Twain]] National Forests in the [[central United States]].<ref name="press-releases-2019-10-29"/>

In late 2018, two canids that are largely coyote were found on [[Galveston Island]], Texas with red wolf [[alleles]] (gene expressions) left from a [[ghost population]] of red wolves. Since these alleles are from a different population from the red wolves in the North Carolina captive breeding program, there has been a proposal to selectively cross-breed the Galveston Island coyotes{{efn|The purpose would be to selectively breed the animals to restore the lost red wolf genes to the current captive and experimental red wolf populations, while removing any introduced coyote genes. In addition to recovering the lost red wolf genetics, it would bolster the meager genetic diversity of the captive red wolves.}} into the captive red wolf population.<ref name="heppenheimer2018" /> Another study published around the same time analyzing canid scat and hair samples in southwestern Louisiana found genetic evidence of red wolf ancestry in about 55% of sampled canids, with one such individual having between 78 and 100% red wolf ancestry, suggesting the possibility of more red wolf genes in the wild that may not be present in the captive population.<ref name=":4" />

From 2015 to 2019, there were no red wolves released into the wild. But in March 2020, the FWS released a new breeding pair of red wolves, including a young male red wolf from St. Vincent Island, Florida into the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. The pair were unsuccessful at producing a litter of pups in the wild. On March 1, 2021, two male red wolves from Florida were paired with two female wild red wolves from eastern North Carolina and released into the wild. One of the male wolves was killed by a car shortly after being released into the wild. On April 30 and May 1, four adult red wolves were released into the wild and four red wolf pups were fostered by a wild female red wolf.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Sorg|first=Lisa |publisher=NC Policy Watch|date=May 19, 2021|title=Eight red wolves released west of Outer Banks, first time in years|url=https://www.obxtoday.com/n-c-policy-watch-eight-red-wolves-released-west-of-outerbanks-first-time-in-years/|access-date=2021-05-20|via=OBX Today}}</ref> In addition to the eight released wolves, the total number of red wolves living in the wild amount to nearly thirty wild individuals, including a dozen other wolves not wearing radio collars.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kozak |first=Catherine |date=2021-05-17 |title=Groups release 8 captive red wolves into NC recovery area |work=CoastalReview |url=https://coastalreview.org/2021/05/8-captive-red-wolves-released-into-nc-recovery-area/}}</ref>

A study published in 2020 reported camera traps recorded "the presence of a large canid possessing wolf-like characters" in northeast Texas and later hair samples and tracks from the area indicated the presence of red wolves.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ladine |first=Troy A. |date=2020 |title=The Red Wolf (''Canis rufus'') in East Texas |journal=The Southwestern Naturalist |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=52–56|doi=10.1894/0038-4909-65.1.52 |bibcode=2021SWNat..65...52L }}</ref>

By fall of 2021, a total of six red wolves had been killed, including the four adults that had been released in the spring. Three of the released adults had been killed in vehicle collisions, two had died from unknown cases, and the fourth released adult had been shot by a landowner who feared the wolf was attempting to get his chickens. These losses dropped the number of wolves in the wild down to about 20 wild individuals. In the winter of 2021–2022, the Fish and Wildlife Services selected nine captive adult red wolves to be released into the wild. A family of five red wolves were released into the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, while two new breeding pairs of adult wolves were released into the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. The release of these new wolves brought the number of wild red wolves in eastern North Carolina up to less than 30 wild individuals.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

On April 22, 2022, one of the [[breeding pair]]s of adult red wolves produced a litter of six wolf pups, four females and two males. This new litter of red wolf pups became the first litter born in the wild since 2018. As of 2023, there are between 15 and 17 wild red wolves in Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.<ref name=":5" />