THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 6, 1996 TAG: 9602060295
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHARLESTON, S.C. LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
The red wolves from Bull's Island continue their startling return from endangered species to thriving woodland residents.
The adult wolves released on the island produced a third litter of pups, three females whelped in the wild last spring.
The staff of Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge recently got their first look at the pups.
There's more good news. A single male wolf, born in the wild a year ago, has healed completely from his broken leg and hunts with ease. And four pups from the first two litters have new homes and probably will be running free soon.
The female and one male were introduced to mates last month and will be released in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. The two older males temporarily live in acclimation pens at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge near Manteo.
Biologists say they hope the Bull's Island brothers will cross paths with the ladies.
Things didn't seem so bright about 20 years ago when 19 genetically pure red wolves were placed and bred in captivity to keep the species alive, Cape Romain refuge manager George Garris said.
When numbers grew, a pair of zoo-born reds were released on Bull's Island in 1987. The experiment worked as the wolves became the first species declared extinct in the wild and reintroduced.
At first the precious animals were penned when a female became pregnant, so she would have her pups in safety and a veterinarian could check them immediately.
Now, for the second year in a row, the male called Red and his mate remained free to bear and raise their pups.
This summer Garris saw signs of young, small footprints that looked like those of puppies playing. He got a sight of it himself in December, spending Christmas on the Island catching the wolves so they could be checked.
Veterinarian Dr. John Murray examined all the wolves on Jan. 3 and found them healthy.
At Alligator River, the two newly arrived brothers are looking great, said Art Beyer, Red Wolf Project biological technician. Each has his own acclimation pen.
``We hope to release them on the refuge any day now,'' Beyer said. The refuge, which first released red wolves in the fall of 1987, now has about a dozen reds in captivity and up to 60 in the wild. The wolves have borne pups in the wild for four generations, he said.
KEYWORDS: RED WOLVES by CNB