Project Year 2020
With only 18 to 20 left in the wild the American red wolf is the rarest of all wolf species. Those few animals live in Eastern North Carolina and despite their status as critically endangered, many of the locals believed they were killing all the quail which is a favourite game species in that area.
Wildlife Canada Society was able to contract with Wildlands Network to hire two North Carolina State University wildlife/forestry undergraduates to work as summer interns to carry out a quail survey. The field work was conducted in and around the last remaining territories of the red wolves and the results demonstrated that quail have far better survival rates when they share habitat with red wolves. That is mainly because the red wolves target the medium size predators of quail eggs such as raccoons, snakes and weasels.
WildLife Canada Society also contracted Wildlands Network to create a video that illustrated the benefits to quail of co-existing with red wolves. That video was widely distributed and helped to change local opinions. It also prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to rejuvenate their red wolf captive breeding program and release more animals back into the wild.
