Red wolf
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Red wolf ( Canis rufus ) |
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| Canis rufus | ||||||||||||
| Audubon & Bachman , 1851 |
The red wolf ( Canis rufus , often under the incorrect name Canis niger ) is a North American type of dog that is closely related to the actual wolf .
The species was once common in much of the southwestern United States , but became extinct in the wild in about 1980 as a result of ruthless hunting. In 1987 the red wolf was released back into the wild in North Carolina , but this population is almost extinct and in 2019 there were only 14 animals. The captive population adds up to around 200 animals.
features
Red wolves are significantly smaller than actual wolves (which are called gray wolf , "gray wolf", to distinguish them from the red wolf in North America ). They have a head-trunk length of about 80 cm, the tail is also about 35 cm long. They are 75 cm high up to the shoulder. The body weight is about 25 kg. Males are on average ten percent larger than females.
The color of the fur is not always red, just as the gray wolf is not always gray. In addition to cinnamon-red wolves, beige-gray and blackish red wolves also occur. The more reliable distinguishing feature from the gray wolf is not the fur, but the much more delicate shape. In addition, the red wolf has a narrower snout and proportionally larger ears.
Distribution area and existence
The red wolf was originally widespread in the southeastern United States , where it died out around 1980. Intensive hunting has eradicated it to such an extent that remnants only remained in parts of Texas and Louisiana .
In 1973, the Endangered Species Act was enacted in the United States . In the same year, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) started a breeding program for which 79 wild red wolves were caught and 14 designated pure red wolves were selected as the basis for the breeding population. The red wolf then died out in the wild. An extinction of the species total was, however, prevented by the offspring. The offspring of the captive-bred red wolves have been released again in northeast North Carolina since 1987 . The area was chosen, among other things, because it was considered coyote-free and therefore crossbreeds between the two forms of dog were considered unlikely. However, since the 1990s coyotes have migrated to the area and mating between the species has occurred. This is considered to be the greatest threat to the wild population.
Today's distribution area in northern North Carolina includes three game reserves, the Alligator River National Game Reserve , the Pocosin Lakes National Game Reserve and the Mattamuskeet National Game Reserve . After the release, the population rose rapidly to around 120 animals, but has been declining for several years. In 2016, the USFWS estimated the population at 75-50 animals, in 2019 only 14 red wolves were counted in the wild. Based on findings that indicate that the bred red wolves are only hybrids and the negative attitude of the local population, the program is up for grabs.
The low genetic diversity can turn out to be a potential threat, as the species had to pass a genetic bottleneck . Another project to reintroduce the species in the Great Smoky Mountains was unsuccessful.
Way of life
Because of its smaller size, the red wolf hunts smaller animals than its relative, the gray wolf. Raccoons , rabbits and rodents are its main prey. Large animals like deer are only attacked when they are sick and weak. The red wolf also goes to carrion .
Like gray wolves, red wolves live in packs during the night . An alpha pair leads the pack and procreates the offspring. There are usually three to six, and in very rare cases up to twelve, puppies in a litter. The howl is less loud and carrying than that of the gray wolf; it should sound like a mixture of the vocalizations of wolves and coyotes .
Through the hunt, the red wolf has become an inhabitant of inaccessible swamps and mountain regions, because only here has it survived. Originally, however, it lived in a variety of habitats and was native to forests and grasslands.
Zoological status
There is still disagreement as to whether the red wolf is really an independent species . It has long been considered a subspecies of the wolf. In 1968 it was first listed as a separate species in a zoological work, and several zoologists have since confirmed this view.
Genetic studies in 1991 led to the discovery that all red wolves carry genetic material from wolves ( Canis lupus ) and coyotes ( Canis latrans ). From this some have drawn the conclusion that the red wolf is a hybrid of wolves and coyotes . This thesis is supported by the fact that no individual parts have yet been found in the red wolves' genome, which has so far only been partially deciphered, which would characterize them as a separate species. According to some biologists, an animal must have unique genetic characteristics in order to be considered a distinct species. The genome of the red wolf that has been researched so far also occurs in wolves and coyotes.
Another thesis is that the red wolf has been mating with wolves and especially coyotes for a long time, around 1930, perhaps even longer, and that its own genetic material may have disappeared as a result. In any case, wild red wolves mate with wolves and coyotes due to the extreme endangerment of their species, because they cannot find their own mating partner.
Web links
- Canis rufus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006 Posted by: Kelly et al , 2004. Retrieved on 5 May, 2006.
Individual evidence
- ↑ PW Hedrick, RJ Frederickson: Captive breeding and the reintroduction of Mexican and red wolves . In: Molecular Ecology . tape 17 , no. 1 , January 2008, p. 344-350 , doi : 10.1111 / j.1365-294x.2007.03400.x ( PDF ).
- ↑ Only 14 red wolves remain in SC wild, and US agency won't say what they're doing about it , in The Post and Courier , October 16, 2019
- ↑ Ben Crair: What's a Species, Anyways? In: The New Republic . December 6, 2015, accessed December 7, 2015 .
- ^ John L. Paradiso, Canids Recently Collected in East Texas, with Comments on the Taxonomy of the Red Wolf . In: American Midland Naturalist . tape 80 , no. 2 , October 1, 1968, p. 529-534 , doi : 10.2307 / 2423543 .
- ↑ Niles Lehman, Andrew Eisenhawer, Kimberly Hansen, L. David Mech, Rolf O. Peterson, Peter JP Gogan, Robert K. Wayne: Introgression of Coyote Mitochondrial DNA Into Sympatric North American Gray Wolf Populations . In: evolution . tape 45 , no. 1 , February 1, 1991, p. 104-119 , doi : 10.2307 / 2409486 ( PDF ).
- ↑ Bridgett M. vonHoldt, John P. Pollinger, Dent A. Earl, James C. Knowles, Adam R. Boyko, Heidi Parker, Eli Geffen, Malgorzata Pilot, Wlodzimierz Jedrzejewski, Bogumila Jedrzejewska, Vadim Sidorovich, Claudia Greco, Ettore Randi, Marco Musiani, Roland Kays, Carlos D. Bustamante, Elaine A. Ostrander , John Novembre, Robert K. Wayne: A genome-wide perspective on the evolutionary history of enigmatic wolf-like canids . In: Genome Research . tape 21 , no. 8 , August 1, 2011, p. 1294–1305 , doi : 10.1101 / gr.116301.110 , PMC 3149496 (free full text).