HOME WEB NEWS IMAGES CLASSIFIEDS YELLOW PAGESPOLLS - SURVEYS WIKI COUNTRIES PHOTOS US UK INDIA
Cities Stocks Weather Movies Coupons Travel Blogs Health Horoscope Maps ASIA EUROPE Classifieds Yellow Pages
 1
|
For other uses, see Red Wolf (disambiguation).
| Red Wolf | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||||||||||
| Conservation status | ||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Canis rufus Audubon & Bachman, 1851 |
The Red Wolf (Canis rufus) is a mammal of the order carnivora. It once roamed throughout the Southeastern United States and is an ice age survivor of the Late Pleistocene epoch.Reich, D.E., R.K. Wayne, and D.B. Goldstein. 1999. Genetic evidence for a recent origin by hybridization of red wolves. Molecular Ecology 8:139 - 144. Red wolf is smaller than Gray Wolf, with reddish coat, silver-grey forehead and darker sign on white legs and cream underbelly. The red wolf has long ears and smooth coat with long legs. They live through south-eastern part United States, from Texas to Florida. The one population are reintoduced to North Carolina. Scientist suggest that red wolf population was extirpated from the wild in the southeastern United States and now is very endangered and slowly reintroduced to wild nature.
Contents |
The Red Wolf typically has a height at the shoulders of 38–40 cm (15–16 inches), a length of 140–165 cm (4.5–5.5 feet), and weigh 18–36 Kg (40–80 pounds).Fort Worth Zoo, Red WolfAnimal Info.org: Red Wolf
The origins of the Red Wolf ligne are set at 1-2 Mya with a branching from a common ancestor of the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus), the eastern North American wolves, and Coyote (Canis latrans). One branch remained in North America. The other branch migrated to Eurasia and there gave rise to the Gray Wolf. Between 150,000—300,000 years ago, the North American branch created the eastern North American wolves and the Coyote Wilson, P.J., S. Grewal, I.D. Lawford, J.N.M. Heal, A.G. Granacki, D. Pennock, J.B. Theberge, M.T. Theberge, D.R. Voigt, W. Waddell, R.E.Chambers, P.C. Paquet, G. Goulet, D. Cluff, and B.N. White. 2000. DNA profiles of the eastern Canadian wolf and the red wolf provide evidence for a common evolutionary history independent of the gray wolf. Canadian Journal of Zoology 78:2156 - 2166..
Once part of the same continuum of wolves, land-clearing and direct exploitation by people following European colonization resulted in a large gap between the few remaining Red (Eastern) wolves in the southeastern United States and the larger population in central Ontario and southern Quebec. Long-lasting analysis mtDNA confirm independence the origin red wolf from the coyote or gray wolf populations in the eastern part of North America and isolate two populations: one is know as the "red wolf" and the other as the Eastern Canadian Wolf. The sequence of haplotypes show elements similar to the Eastern Canadian wolf and it is probably of the same species.The mtDNA analysis confirm that the Red Wolf\'s ancestors belonged to an ancient form of primitive wolf (along with Eastern Canadian wolf) and certain fossil origin from North America in 750 000 years ago in east part of North America and later divided for two or three species [red wolf + eastern canadian wolf and coyote (distinct from about 300 thousand years ago)] (Nowak,1979, 1992).
Aggressive predator control programs, hunting and agriculturalization have combined to bring the red wolf near to extinction, because it was thought to be a threat to livestock. It is now considered rare.
Captive Red Wolf at Parks at Chehaw, Albany, Georgia USA.
It is thought that its original distribution included much of eastern North America, where Red Wolves were found from New York in the east, Florida in the south, and Texas in the south-west. Records of bounty payments to Wappinger Indians in New York in the middle 1700s confirm its range at least that far northJ. Michael Smith: The Highland King Nimhammaw and the Native Indian Proprietors of Land in Dutchess County, NY: 1712-1765. Hudson River Valley Review; it\'s possible that it could have extended as far as extreme eastern Canada. There are thought to be about 300 red wolves remaining in the world, with 220 of those in captivity.Red Wolf. US Fish & Wildlife.For decades, the Red Wolf has been indistinguishable genetically from either the Gray Wolf or the Coyote.[ 2 ] The Red Wolf breeds with both species and may again be in peril as contact with other species in the wild resumes.[ 5 ]
In 1987 approximately 100 were reintroduced into the wild as the first island propagation project in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge off the coast of North Carolina. In 1989 the second island propagation project initiated with release of a population on Horn Island of the Mississippi coast. This population was moved in 1998 because of a likelihood of encounters with humans. The third island propagation project introduced a population on St. Vincent Island, Florida offshore between Cape San Blas and Apalachicola, Florida in 1990 and in 1997 the fourth island propagation program introduced a population to Cape St. George Island, Florida south of Apalachicola, Florida. In 1991 two pairs were reintroduced into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where the last known wolf was killed in 1905. Despite some early success, the wolves were relocated to North Carolina in 1998, ending the effort to reintroduce the species to the Park. Historical habitats included forests, swamps and coastal prairies, where it was an apex predator.
Traditionally, three subspecies of Red Wolf are recognized. Two of these subspecies are extinct. Canis rufus floridanus has been extinct since 1930 and Canis rufus gregoryi was declared extinct in the wild by 1970. Canis rufus rufus, the other surviving subspecies, was extirpated in 1980, although that status was changed to "critical" when 100 wolves were reintroduced in North Carolina.
Unlike the Grey Wolf, the Red Wolf has not been known to attack people, though they were reported to eat corpses on the battlefields of the Mexican-American War.Audubon, John James (1967). The Imperial Collection of Audubon Animals, p307. ASIN B000M2FOFM.
Red wolf running
Red Wolves are shy and wary creatures (a possible explanation for their \'rare\' reputation). They prefer to hunt alone or in small family groups; pack sizes are smaller than those of their gray cousins, consisting often of one adult pair and their offspring.
As in other canids pair-bonding is strong and Red Wolves mate for life. They mate yearly and two or three pups are usually born in the spring. Both parents help raise the offspring who are mature enough to leave behind parental support at six months of age.
Their diet consists of small animals, including rabbits, raccoons and rodents. They occasionally bring down deer with the help of other wolves and they supplement their diet with insects and berries.
On January 31, 2008, Arkansas State University’s Mascot Selection Steering Committee decided to use the Wolves as a mascot. The Red Wolves was officially approved by the NCAA on March 7, 2008. The ceremony and unveiling of the new Red Wolves logo was held on March 13, 2008.
Wikispecies has information related to:
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia
