We interviewed him on red wolf conservation and some of the challenges that we are currently facing with red wolf conservation:

• The only way that the red wolf would be removed from the endangered list because of their genetics and hybridization is if we discover that the first wolf was a coyote making a red wolf a coyote.

• Hybridization with coyotes is a major threat to the red wolf population. The previous strategy to combat this was to catch the coyotes, sterilize them and then release them. This is not a "sustainable long-term conservation strategy." One thing they noticed was that the bigger wolves are more likely to kill the coyote rather than mate with them. So the idea of selecting larger wolves in captive breeding is a current idea for combating hybridization.

• Removing coyotes isn't effective because the populations fill in those holes very quickly. "you're never going to get rid of them (coyotes)."

• With wolves being more effective at killing deer than coyotes, deer hunters become a special interest group that you have to take into account when it comes to red wolf conservation. There are a lot of what-ifs when it comes to how the reintroduction of the red wolf will impact the deer population but as of right now there is such a high deer population it is unknown how much of an impact they can have on it.

• Question: Do you think the reintroduction of red wolves would get to the point of the wolves at Yellowstone? Answer: "Certainly there is enough undeveloped land and enough prey basis to support them (red wolves)". They would need protection but it is possible.

• Radio collars are the primary way of keeping track of the population. Trail camera pictures have shown to be "pretty much useless for tracking the wolf population." There is a big population of unknown canids that you can't identify with the pictures. Red wolves, coyotes, and hybrids look too similar to use camera traps to identify them.

Below is a video from the Museum of Natural Resources about Red Wolf Conservation:

We interviewed him about red wolf conservation and here some summarized snippets of his comments:

• Red wolves are a distinct species from coyotes and grey wolves. The word "hybrid" is overused by both scientists and the public, and can have many meanings.

• When the wild red wolf population was at its healthiest, with over 100 individuals, within the core area in known packs there were few coyotes and no hybridization occurring. Hybridization was mostly occurring on the outskirts of the area where those red wolves did not have the choice of a red wolf mate. Red wolves do not choose coyotes if other red wolves are an option; it is a last resort of red wolves.

• The NCWRC did a long term study on the opinions of the residents within the Red Wolf Recovery Area; 1/3 opposed red wolves, 1/3 were neutral, and 1/3 supported red wolves. A lot of those opposed to red wolves are really opposed to the government regulating their private land, such as through restricting the management of coyotes through hunting in the Red Wolf Recovery Area.

• There may be ways of introducing the "ghost alleles" from the wild canids in Texas into the captive population to increase genetic diversity. Additional recovery areas are also going to be added into the red wolf's historic range to aid the red wolf population in expanding.

• There has been no evidence of a red wolf ever attacking a human being and there have only been 9 instances of a red wolf killing livestock or pets. Furthermore, those red wolves were injured or old and no longer able to catch their own prey.

• There was an anti-red wolf campaign around 2012, and because of that the USFWS felt pressured and suspended lots of management methods, such as releasing red wolves into their Recovery Area and coyote sterilization. Only within the past few years have they been able to resume those management techniques, which is part of the reason why the wild red wolf population decreased so drastically from over 100 individuals a decade ago to now only 10 known individuals.