Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (here) sits at the mouth of the Scuppernog river as it feeds into the Albemarle Sound.  It's an eerily beautiful spot, site of the reintroduction of the Red Wolf.  The Red Wolf is listed as "critically endangered", only 40 live in the wild, with 200 in captive breeding. (here)

One problem with the Red Wolf is that it looks similar to a Coyote and can be mistaken for one at night.  For that reason, North Carolina has banned night hunting for Coyotes in the counties where the Red Wolf still roams.  A bill to allow night hunting was introduced in 2017 but has not been passed. (here) Whew!

Red Wolf

The Red Wolf is considered the rarest of wolves.  In 1980 they were declared extinct in the wild.  (see here) A preservation program has brought them back  to about 100 individuals, all in North Carolina, and a reintroduction program has been going since 1987.  Now, our senator Tom Tillis is asking the US Fish and Wildlife service to terminate the program (see here).

This mama wolf and her pups live at the NC Museum of Life and Science.  This last summer the pups dug under the fence and were on the loose on the Museum grounds for a week or so.   Maybe they're sneaky enough to survive despite everything...