Litter Of Endangered Red Wolf Puppies Born In The Wild For First Time In 4 Years

As NPR reported, only 17 of these wolves were left by the time the Endangered Species Act passed in 1973. Their downfall came from a combination of excessive hunting, extermination attempts, and the expansion of cities and towns into their habitats throughout the southeastern United States.

But just four years after the species was declared extinct in the wild in 1980, their numbers in captivity ballooned to 63 and efforts began to reintroduce them into the wild.

And in a Facebook post from April 21, the group announced that their efforts had paid off as a litter of red wolf pups were discovered at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina.

According to their representative, the breeding pair that produced this litter were able to do so "through the combination of several management actions and the two red wolves subsequently following their natural instincts in pairing, establishing their territory and mating."

Although the organization's representative said the presence of the program's staff wasn't exactly welcome to the mother of the pups, they had to take some additional steps to ensure the newborns had the best chance at survival.

Nonetheless, they worked as quickly as they could to minimize how much they had to disturb the new family.

As People reported, that information comes from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who have noted that this work to arrange 30 new breeding pairs resulted in the births of 23 new pups in the 2020-2021 mating season alone.

And now that workers have confirmed that these litters can show up in the wild as well, there's more reason than ever to hope for the species' future.

In the words of the representative from the Red Wolf Recovery Program, "Every generation yields a new born hope for the red wolf…a cause for joy and celebration!"