US commits to releasing more endangered red wolves into the wild, settling lawsuit

The U.S. government will settle a lawsuit with conservation groups and commit to releasing more endangered red wolves into the wilds of North Carolina, where nearly three dozen of the canine species are believed to still run free. “This settlement puts us on a path to restoring the red wolf to its rightful place as a celebrated success story.” Red wolves once occupied much of the Eastern U.S. but were driven to near extinction by trapping, hunting and habitat loss before they were reintroduced to North Carolina in 1987. U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle noted in his order that the conservation groups were likely to succeed, while demonstrating that “extinction is a very real possibility.” According to the settlement agreement, the Fish and Wildlife Service will develop and publish red wolf release plans for a period of eight years. Johanna Hamburger, a senior attorney with the Animal Welfare Institute, said in a statement Wednesday that the agreement “pulls wild red wolves back from the brink of extinction.” “When we filed this lawsuit, scientists warned that if the continued down that path, red wolves could be extinct in the wild by 2024,” she said.