Field Trip Earth: Featured Interview

About Red Wolf Recovery

Submitted by Arthur Hermes from The Woodlands, TX on April 15, 2004

Michael Morse, a wildlife biologist at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina, offers some key information about the red wolf recovery program.

Questions and Answers

Question #1.
About how many litters of red wolf pups do you have in one year?
Answer:
The number changes each year depending on pack numbers. Last year we had 13 litters; this year we have the possibility of having around 16.

Question #2.
About how many pups per litter?
Answer:
Normal litter size ranges from about 6-8 pups. "Fall Recruitment" (i.e., 6 month-old pups) to the pack is typically about 50% of the original litter size. Sometimes more than that live, sometimes less.

Question #3.
About how many new adult red wolves do you recieve in one year?
Answer:
If your question pertains to releasing animals born and raised in captivity, we stopped that years ago. The red wolf population in eastern North Carolina is 100% wild born. Even the few captive pups we've fostered to wild litters were less than 10 days old and thus considered "wild-raised."

Question #4.
How long have you been working there? What have you learned?
Answer:
This is my 16th year with the program. I have learned (and am still learning) to keep an open mind and to listen well when dealing with everyday management decisions. The ability to use good, sound science, and to be adaptable on a daily basis is key to producing positive results.

Question #5.
What is the worst condition have you taken a red wolf in?
Answer:
Wild wolves are subject to many different harsh environmental conditions. Disease and parasites are problems wolves have to endure throughout their lives. Heartworm and mange are two examples. Sarcoptic mange is a devastating and debilitating condition and can actually kill wild animals.

Question #6.
When did you start the program?
Answer:
The first red wolves were released into the wild in 1987 at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in eastern NC.

Question #7.
Do you like your job?
Answer:
I love my job. I feel very fortunate to be able to work with an important endangered species recovery effort.

Question #8.
What do you do?
Answer:
My job title is "wildlife biologist." I work for the federal government with the US Fish & Wildlife Service at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. I work solely with the red wolf recovery program and help manage and monitor the growing wild wolf population. This entails: radio-tracking, trapping, health checks, and data management for the wolf project.

Question #9.
Do you think that the people of the world could be doing more to save the red wolf?
Answer:
There are many imperiled species, worldwide, that need and deserve our attention. As a people, we need to be conscientious,understanding, and accepting of the different species in our world and the natural roles they are intended to fill. These actions will help preserve not only the red wolf, but other plants and animals worldwide.

Question #10.
What types of food do you give to the red wolves?
Answer:
We don't feed the wild population of wolves. We typically feed the captive wolves dry dog food because it is a balanced and complete diet. If we need to feed wild wolves that are being temporarily held in captivity, we use a zoo "carnivor-diet," which consists of ground meat.

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