Greetings from the Red Wolf Recovery Program! The restoration area reports 

a healthy 2009 pup season with four pups (three females and a male) from 

Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL, fostered into two wild packs and four pups 

were born to a captive pair at Sandy Ridge (three males and a female) and are

doing well as you can see from the photo below. They are so big now! Eleven 

wild litters produced 41 pups and the captive population reported 12 pups 

born among 3 litters (including the 4 fostered pups).

There are currently 75-80 radio-collared red wolves in a total population of 

about 130 in the 5-county restoration area in northeastern North Carolina. As 

of this publication, there are 180 red wolves in the captive population.

 

 Kim Wheeler photos: Pups at Sandy Ridge: then and now.

A total of four males and one female red wolf from St. Vincent National 

Wildlife Refuge in Apalachicola, FL, were released into northeastern North 

Carolina’s wild population this year. Hopefully they will find mates and 

acclimate well to their new home.

 

From the Field

Summer - 2009

Red Wolf Journal

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

THIS ISSUE:

- Pup season report

- Bud Fazio accepts

 position with

 Mexican Wolf

 Program

- David Rabon, new 

Team Leader

- Recovery Program

 replaces admin. 

 person

- Exciting new SSP 

education effort

- Captive Corner

- Red Wolf Coalition 

(RWC) news 

- Outreach activity

- Red Wolf 

Education and 

Health Care 

Facility 

More inside . . .

Note: The “Red Wolf 

Journal” replaces the 

“Red Wolf News.”

Comments welcome.

Snow is not a common 

occurrence during an 

eastern North Carolina 

winter. However, Kim 

Wheeler, Executive 

Director, Red Wolf 

Coalition, took this photo 

of a 2009 winter scene at 

the Sandy Ridge facility. 

This red wolf does not 

seem to mind the white 

stuff at all. 
From the Field (cont.)

Mortality

Field biologists report eight red wolf mortalities in the wild population since early June, but due to the time of 

year (heat, bugs, and reduced flight time for budgetary reasons) cause of death could not be determined. This 

number includes breeders as well as dispersing yearlings.

Change in Leadership . . .

Many of you have heard the news that Bud Fazio, Red 

Wolf Recovery Program Team Leader, accepted a 

position with the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program. 

During Bud’s tenure with red wolf restoration, he 

often came in contact with the western Mexican wolf 

project so is already familiar with many of the 

program’s issues and goals. He and his family are 

settled in their new home and Bud is getting 

acclimated to the western work environment. 

David Rabon, currently working for the USFWS 

Ecological Service office in Raleigh, NC, was selected

as Bud’s replacement. David is quite familiar with red 

wolf restoration and recently completed his PhD on 

the subject at North Carolina State University. We will 

welcome David to the Manteo office in mid-October. 

Art Beyer has been acting Team Leader, again, and 

doing a terrific job.

DOT Study

The recovery program has 

been part of a North Carolina 

Department of 

Transportation (DOT) 

state/federal partnership to 

monitor wildlife activity 

along Hwy. 64. The DOT is 

investigating the possibility 

of widening the highway 

corridor from Columbia to 

Manns Harbor, NC. As a result of this 

partnership, DOT has purchased 40 satellite 

collars to monitor red wolf activity in the study 

area. USFWS wildlife biologists, ARNWR staff 

and interns, Duke University, and Virginia Tech 

(continued on next page)

Jane Goodall 

Book

“Hope for Animals and

Their World” How 

Endangered Species are 

Being Rescued from the 

Brink is the title of Jane 

Goodall’s latest book 

book and is co-authored 

by Thane Maynard and 

Gail Hudson. A chapter 

 on red wolves is included in the text. Anticipated 

 publication date is September, 2009. More 

 information is available at http://www. 

 hachettebookgroup.com/books_9781600248689.htm.

 

 SSP Update

Will Waddell, Species Survival Plan (SSP) 

Coordinator, recently sent out a Red Wolf SSP 

Update and mentioned that the federal 

Omnibus Bill provided funding to relocate the 

Graham facility in Tacoma, WA, with a portion 

of the funds going to the Western North 

Carolina Nature Center in Asheville, NC. 

The SSP report indicated that “about five years 

of work preceded the spending bill to secure 

public and private funding to relocate the 

Graham facility to Northwest Trek Wildlife 

Park.” This site is managed by MetroParks 

Tacoma, the same local municipality that 

operates Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. 

The federal grant paperwork has been received 

in Tacoma and hopefully will soon follow at 

the Asheville site. More to follow as the 

$870,000 in funding is spent on projects.

Program Highlights
 Program Highlights (cont.) The r

The route 

encompasses over 

eleven miles of 

barbed wire strung 

above the guardrail 

on US Highway 64 

through Alligator 

River National 

Wildli Wildlife Refuge. DNA analysis of the hair will tell

resear researchers what species, and even what individual 

anima animal, left this hair as it crossed over the guardrail. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Wolf Recovery Program Outreach

Far Traveler

The “Far Traveler” teacher workshop was held on July 23rd

at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Columbia, NC. 

There was a combination of nine formal and non-formal 

educators from North Carolina and Virginia at the workshop. 

(Ten is an ideal number but we have hosted as many as 15 

participants.) 

The Red Wolf Recovery Program and the Red Wolf 

Coalition (RWC) co-sponsor the workshops and the RWC 

donates refreshments. Educators participate in activities 

from the “Far Traveler” curriculum authored by Cornelia 

Hutt, RWC Chairperson; talk with a wildlife biologist from 

the Red Wolf Recovery Program; and go home with the 

“Recovering a Species” DVD, a howling CD, “Far Traveler” 

curriculum guide, posters, red wolf pens and literature. They 

become familiar with a “Discovery Box” and its use for red 

wolf education. This tool is sent to educators through a 

reservation system. Workshop evaluations help with future 

workshop development. 

2009 Events

September 26 Heritage Days in Kitty Hawk, NC

October 10 Scuppernong River Festival in Columbia, NC

November 17 Wildfest in Manteo, NC

November 21 Farm City Festival in Plymouth, NC

November 5 RWC and USFWS doing a special howling for Wings Over Water event.

A Few Statistics

2009 Fiscal Year to date: 14 Discovery Boxes were sent to educators in NC, TX, FL and VA

 26 presentations done for schools, events & community groups

 200+ information requests responded to from the general public and media

Photo donated by Krista Perry. 

Michael Morse, Red Wolf Recovery 

Program staff, talking with workshop 

participants.

are part of this effort. It will take over a year to 

analyze the data and complete a proposal. 

Since satellite collars cost about $3,000 

compared to $300-$400 for VHS, the recovery 

program is grateful for the opportunity to 

participate in this project. Data received from 

the DOT study is likely to enhance red wolf 

research for the USFWS program as well.

The picture and information were taken from an 

ARNWR news release distributed by Bonnie 

Strawser, ARNWR Visitor Services Manager.
Red Wolf Coalition

The Red Wolf Coalition (RWC) continues to support red wolf conservation in a number of ways:

Seeks out funding to build enclosures behind the Red Wolf Education and Health Care Facility in 

Columbia. (Estimated cost: $80,000)

Takes the lead on red wolf howlings. The wolves have howled every Wednesday evening but 

one! (We weren’t so lucky in 2007 and 2008!)

Continue to be a strong partner on outreach fronts (education programs, event participation, 

community connections, etc.).

Kim Wheeler, Executive Director of the Red Wolf Coalition, was recently elected as Tyrrell 

County Chamber of Commerce President, a good community connection. Kim was also the lead 

nanny at a recent training at the International Wolf Center (IWC) and continues to fill in as 

caretaker for the Red Wolf Recovery Program when there are lapses in interns. 

Mark MacAllister, RWC Board Member and web site master for www.fieldtripearth.org., 

announced that this site received Landmark Website" by the American Association of School 

Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). Mark said, “Other 

Landmark Websites so honored include Library of Congress, NASA, PBS Teachers, Smithsonian 

Education, Apple Learning Interchange, and Google Earth--as well as some other long-term 

projects such as WebQuest and EduTopia – good company to be in.”

RWC acts as a strong liaison between the IWC and the recovery program.

Mark MacAllister continues to contribute a great deal of his time developing the SSP web site, 

scanning slides and assisting the Red Wolf Recovery Program with 21st century technology.

The last face-to-face RWC board meeting was held at the Durham Museum of Life and Science, 

in Durham, NC, and new board member Sherry Samuels provided a guided tour of Museum 

facilities.

New board members: Sherry Samuels from the Durham Life & Science Museum; David Slaydon, 

Nylon Account Manager, Unifi, Inc.; and Ann Raspberry, Consulting Ecologist and Geospatial 

Intelligence Analyst.

Howling Safaris

People, wolves, bears and alligators . . . plus snakes, 

birds, frogs, deer, bugs and jets all make for an 

interesting howling safari evening on the ARNWR. 

As we near the end of summer, nearly 700 participants 

have heard red wolves howl in the night as well as 

frogs croaking and jets flying. Bears are seen nearly 

every week as cars caravan slowly through the refuge 

to the howling site. Visitors often come back the next 

day for another look. Every now and then an alligator 

has been spotted in a canal alongside Hwy. 64 or a 

paddler has seen one on a refuge water trail. Great 

egrets and many other species of wildlife call the 

refuge home and are quite willing to share the space 

with their neighbors – even their human visitors. 

There is still one more howling to go plus several more 

 USFWS photo: Michele Shrader, Volunteer free howlings. Additional information can be found at

registering howling participants. www.redwolves.com.
 

 

 

Dr. David Rabon, Team Leader (Start date: Oct. 11, 2009)

Art Beyer, Wildlife Biologist and Field Coordinator

Michael L. Morse, Wildlife Biologist

Chris Lucash, Wildlife Biologist

Ford Mauney, Wildlife Biologist

Ryan Nordsven, Biological Technician

Diane Hendry, Outreach Coordinator

Mary Berrie, Administrative Assistant

David J. Sparks, Caretaker

Red Wolf Recovery Program Staff

Red Wolf Recovery Program 

P.O. Box 1969

708 North Hwy. 64

Manteo, NC 27954

PHONE:

(252) 473-1131

FAX:

(252) 473-4836

E-MAIL:

redwolf@fws.gov

WEB:

http://www.fws.gov/redwolf.html

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

*The red wolf caretaker is a temporary 

 position. Details can be found on-line at

 www.fws.gov/redwolf

Caption 

Alligator River NWR Office

Manteo, NC