Red Wolf Puppy Update!

By: Eric Trefney

August 22, 2025

We all like a little positive news, don’t we? Well, I have some great news regarding the Red Wolf Recovery Program. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has reported the birth of 18 Red Wolf puppies in North Carolina’s Alligator River and Pocosin National Wildlife Refuges this year. This is an amazing and surprising step toward the recovery of America’s wolf: the Red Wolf. Below are highlights from the new USFWS report (the entire report can be viewed here).

The previous matriarch, Red Wolf 2225F – who back in 2022 birthed the first wild litter of Red Wolves since 2018 – is no longer the breeding female in Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. Her daughter, 2503F, has replaced her. Together with wolf 2191M, they had eight puppies this year, four males and four females. But not all is lost for the recently retired matriarch; she has been seen on trail cameras helping to raise her grandchildren and bringing them food. With Red Wolf 2225F assisting the new parents and her grand-puppies, the chances of the puppies’ survival significantly improves!

A newly paired Red Wolf couple, Red Wolves 2443M and 2359F, bred during bonding season in November and produced three puppies. Tragically, this breeding male was struck and killed by a vehicle on refuge lands. While the death of Red Wolf 2443M is extremely sad, his mate and all three of his puppies have been seen thriving on trail cameras. Please drive slowly throughout the Red Wolf Recovery Area; no wolf should be dying from car strikes in areas where the speed limit is 35 MPH!

A concerned conservationist spotted Red Wolf 2409F with a major leg injury. The Red Wolf Recovery Team successfully recaptured 2409F and allowed her to fully recover, then placed her in an acclimation pen with Red Wolf 2371M. The two wolves bonded, and three puppies were born in April. While one puppy did not survive, two did, and the family was released from the acclimation pen into the wild and have been spotted together on the landscape since.

Due to low genetic diversity, Red Wolf 2412F and her sibling Red Wolf 2500M bonded and produced six puppies, three males and three females. The Red Wolf Recovery Team decided to try cross-fostering wolf puppies from this wild pack and the SAFE population (zoos throughout the U.S. participate in the SAFE program and have breeding pairs of wolves who produce puppies for release into the wild). One new male puppy from the North Carolina Zoo was placed into the den with the new parents, and four of the wild puppies were removed and went to the North Carolina Zoo. Two wild puppies were left in the den, leaving three puppies for the new parents to raise. As of August, all three puppies were still seen on the landscape via trail camera, indicating the cross-fostering has been successful.

Red Wolves 2413F (a wild Red Wolf) and 2380M (who is from the SAFE program) were placed in an acclimation pen to try to bond the pair. The two did not produce puppies and did not remain together once released. The hope is that the two wolves will find each other again come breeding season and produce a litter of puppies.

Based on extensive monitoring over the last six months, the Red Wolf Recovery Team believes there are about 10-12 puppies still surviving on the landscape. Puppy survival rate is about 50 percent, so these numbers have so far exceeded expectations, which is reason to celebrate. In addition to the new puppies, the current estimate of wild adult / subadult Red Wolves who have been GPS collared is around 18 individuals. Based on trail cameras and physical sightings, there may also be 13 non-collared Red Wolves in the area of the recovery territory.

While not everything in the USFWS report is a happy update, these are extremely positive puppy numbers! There is a lot of hope right now regarding the Red Wolf’s recovery and reclaiming its historic range. Every wolf counts, and every conversation matters. Talk to friends and family about Red Wolves, share their story, visit the refuges and landscapes they call home, and if you see a USFWS team member out on the refuges, stop and thank them for their work. They need all the encouragement in the world right now.

Bonus information:
If you want to learn about the history of Red Wolves and the inner workings of the refuges with the Red Wolf Recovery Team, read The Secret World of Red Wolves by T. DeLene Beeland. The fundraising money to build wildlife crossings in Red Wolf territory (background here) is currently with the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The NCDOT has begun preliminary talks with the Federal Highway Commission on the next steps for the construction project. More news to come!