Canis rufus

Geographic Range

Formerly the range of red wolves included most habitats of the southeastern United States, however this species range was reduced in historic times to extreme southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana. Presently, red wolves are being reintroduced into areas of their historical range--Alligator River in North Carolina, and the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina (Wilson & Ruff 1999, Nowak 1991).

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic nearctic
  • native native

Habitat

Before becoming endangered, red wolves inhabited mountains, lowland forests, and wetlands. Presently, red wolves survive mainly as small relict and reintroduced populations in inaccessible swampland and mountainous terrain (Wilson & Ruff 1999, Nowak 1991).

• Habitat Regions
• temperate temperate
• terrestrial terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• forest forest
• scrub forest scrub forest

Physical Description

Red wolves are distinguished from their nearest relative, Canis lupus , by their smaller size, relatively narrower proportions, longer legs and ears, and shorter fur. Red wolves have a total length between 1000 and 1300 mm, tail length of from 300 to 420 mm, and shoulder height of 660 to 790 mm. Among red wolves, males average 10 percent larger than females. Red wolves usually have upperparts that are a mixture of cinnamon, tawny, and gray or black, while the back is normally blackish. The muzzle and limbs are tawny and the tail is tipped with black. In winter, the reddish element of the pelage is dominant. An annual molt takes place in the summer (Wilson & Ruff 1999, Nowak 1991).

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• male larger

Reproduction

The dominant male and female pair are solely able to reproduce within a pack. Other pack members assist in raising young and obtaining food for lactating females.

• Mating System
• monogamous monogamous
• cooperative breeder cooperative breeder

Breeding season extends from January to March. The gestation period is 60-63 days, with average litters of 3-6 pups occurring in the spring. However, litters of up to 12 pups can occur.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous iteroparous
• seasonal breeding seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual sexual
• viviparous viviparous

Both males and females participate in rearing the young in the den, as well as other pack members. The young are cared for, nursed, and sheperded through their first year of life.

• Parental Investment
• altricial altricial
• male parental care male parental care
• female parental care female parental care
• post-independence association with parents
• extended period of juvenile learning

Lifespan/Longevity

Most individuals live to about 4 years, though one captive individual was recorded at 14 years old (Wilson & Ruff 1999, Nowak 1991).

Behavior

Red wolves are primarily a nocturnal species. Home ranges are formed and a portion of the home range becomes the exclusive territory of a pack. Packs usually consist of a mated pair, and their pups, but larger packs have been reported. Dens within the home range are built to rear young offspring. These dens are normally located within trunks of hollow trees, in sandy knolls, or stream banks. Packs often live harmoniously, however aggression towards unknown wolves is characteristic of red wolves, as it is of other canids. Within their home range, red wolves hunt over small portions for 7-10 days at a time, continuously shifting to new areas of the range. The vocalizations of red wolves are said to be intermediate between those of coyote and grey wolves (Wilson & Ruff 1999, Nowak 1991).

• Key Behaviors
• terricolous
• nocturnal nocturnal
• crepuscular crepuscular
• motile motile
• sedentary sedentary
• territorial territorial
• social social
• dominance hierarchies dominance hierarchies

Communication and Perception

Red wolves communicate with conspecifics through a complex suite of behavioral, tactile, chemical, and auditory signals. Body language, pheromones, and vocalizations all serve to communicate about social and reproductive status and mood. Social bonding is often acheived through touch. Home ranges are delimited using scent marks.

• Communication Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

• Other Communication Modes
• pheromones pheromones
• scent marks scent marks

• Perception Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

Food Habits

Rodents, ungulates, and other small mammals are the main prey of red wolves. The dominant prey species include raccoons, white-tailed deer, swamp rabbits, cottontail rabbits, pigs, rice rats, nutria, and muskrats. Red wolves will also eat carrion. They typically hunt in a particular area for 7 to 10 days, then switch to a different range (Wilson & Ruff 1999, Nowak 1991).

• Primary Diet
• carnivore carnivore
  • eats terrestrial vertebrates

• Animal Foods
• birds
• mammals
• carrion carrion

• Plant Foods
• fruit

Predation

Red wolves are primarily killed by other canids, including gray wolves and coyotes as a result of agonistic interactions over territories. These are not predation events but are characteristic of competition between wild canids. Young red wolves may also be taken by other large predators such as alligator, large raptors, and bobcats.

Ecosystem Roles

Red wolves are important as top predators in the ecosystems in which they live.

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Red wolves eat many rodents, thus helping to control the populations of these pests (Fox 1975).

• Positive Impacts
• controls pest population

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

Red wolves were long thought by the public to be a serious threat to livestock. This threat has been grossly exaggerated, though they may occasionally kill domestic animals (Fox 1975).

Conservation Status

Red wolves have been blamed for depredations on livestock and game. As a result, humans, mainly ranchers, farmers, and government trappers, steadily eliminated populations of red wolves. In 1967, red wolves were listed as endangered and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service engaged in a salvage effort to protect remaining populations. Fourteen remaining red wolves were placed in a captive-breeding facility; they have become the founders of the present red wolf population. Currently, 200+ red wolves exist, and reintroductions are occurring in a few areas, including North Carolina and the Great Smoky Mountains.

Other Comments

There has been some controversy regarding the validity of Canis rufus as a species. It is possibly a naturally occuring hybrid of coyotes and grey wolves, though debate on this issue continues (Nowak, 1995, Wayne, 1995).

Additional Links

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Michael Mulheisen (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Rebecca Ann Csomos (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Cynthia Sims Parr (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

References

Canid Specialist Group, International Union for the Conservation of Nature, August 1998. "Red wolf (Canis lupus)" (On-line). Accessed November, 2001 at http://www.canids.org/SPPACCTS/redwolf.htm .

Nowak, R., J. Paradiso. 1991. Canis rufus: Mammalian Species No. 22 . The American Society of Mammologists.

Nowak, R. 1995. "Hybridization: the double-edged threat." (On-line). Accessed November 2001 at http://www.canids.org/PUBLICAT/CNDNEWS3/hybridiz.htm .

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "Red Wolf (Endangered Species), Wildlife Species Information: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service" (On-line). Accessed November, 2001 at http://species.fws.gov/bio_rwol.html .

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Endangered Species Coordinator, "Red wolf" (On-line). Accessed November, 2001 at http://endangered.fws.gov/i/a/saa04.html .

Wayne, B. 1995. "Red wolves: to conserve or not to conserve" (On-line). Accessed November, 2001 at http://www.canids.org/PUBLICAT/CNDNEWS3/2conserv.htm .

Wilson, D., S. Ruff. 1999. The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals . Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Fox, M.W. ed. 1975. "The Wild Canids: Their Systematics, Behavioral Ecology and Evolution". Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. New York, NY.