Hello. This is my first post. Except for hunting forums, nobody seems to be discussing this.
I support saving endangered animals and there's a conservation battle going in North Carolina with red wolves vs. hunters.
Situation:-Red wolves and coyotes look a lot alike and can hybridize. Red wolves are native to the southeastern United States and coyotes are native to the western United States.
-Red wolves were hunted down to a small population. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife moved red wolves to North Carolina and that is the only area they exist. They say there is less than 100 left.
http://www.fws.gov/redwolf/-Coyotes took over the eastern United States and are a problem for U.S. Fish and Wildlife trying to save red wolves because they can hybridize.
-To control coyotes, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sterilizes coyotes and releases them back into the wild. They don't kill them. They spay and neuter them like the Humane Society does with cats and dogs. This is because coyotes will protect their territories from new coyotes and they can't produce offspring if they are sterilized. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service keeps track of these coyotes with radio-collars. So when one is killed or fought off by another, they go in and trap those new coyotes and do the same thing.
-Sterilized coyotes can't hybridize with red wolves because they can't produce offspring. This keeps hybrids from being produced.
-As red wolves increase, they replace sterilized coyotes. This means U.S. Fish and Wildlife is swapping coyotes with red wolves. Red wolves establish packs and keep coyotes out.
Problem:-The state agency is promoting coyote hunting in the conservation area where red wolves are. Coyotes can be hunting day and night, anytime of the year. Coyotes are also allowed to be sold alive to pens to be killed by hunting dogs.
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/fox_penning/-Red wolves are getting shot by hunters at alarming rates because they look like big coyotes.
-Nobody gets in trouble because they play dumb and say they thought is was a coyote.
-Red wolf packs are destroyed by hunters and coyotes overwhelm the area.
-Red wolves can't find red wolf mates and breed with coyotes.
-Sterilized coyotes are shot and killed too. So red wolves are finding coyotes that can produce offspring.
-Red wolf numbers are falling and they're producing less pups.
What's happening:-The Animal Welfare Institute, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Red Wolf Coalition filed a law suit against the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and won.
https://awionline.org/cases/protection-red-wolves-These groups said the state agency violated the endangered species act by allowing unregulated hunting of coyotes where red wolves are.
-The judge ruled in favor of the environmental groups and stopped coyote hunting in the conservation area.
-The state agency stripped U.S. Fish and Wildlife of their trapping permit. Now they can't trap wolves and coyotes.
-The Red Wolf Coalition is asking for support.
http://redwolves.com/wp/-Hunters are publicly slandering people working to save red wolves.
See sticky topics on red wolf “scandal”
http://www.nchuntandfish.com/forums/for ... eral-Forumhttp://vimeo.com/97250902