Five Pups Might Help Save Red Wolf from Extinction

The North Carolina Zoo is celebrating the birth of five red wolf pups as part of a breeding program aimed at recovering the critically endangered species.

“Congratulations to the North Carolina Zoo for playing an essential part toward helping this critically endangered species recover,” says North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources secretary Susi H. Hamilton. “It’s yet another example of the Zoo doing amazing work to conserve wildlife and wild places.”

Only 15 to 20 American red wolves remain in the wild in eastern North Carolina, but zoos across the United States have around 240 red wolves thanks to breeding programs. North Carolina Zoo’s American Red Wolf Recovery Program, for example, has alone bred 34 red wolves since 1994.