Size and Weight:
Head and body length: 1 – 1.2 m (3.25 – 4′); weight: 18 – 41 kg (40 – 90 lb)
Habitat:
Given their wide historical distribution, red wolves probably utilized a large suite of habitat types at one time. The last naturally occurring population utilized coastal prairie marshes. However, this environment probably does not typify preferred red wolf habitat. There is evidence that the species was found in highest numbers in the once extensive bottomland river forests and swamps of the southeastern USA. Red wolves re-introduced into northeastern North Carolina have utilized habitat types ranging from agricultural lands to forest/wetland mosaics characterized by an overstory of pine and an understory of evergreen shrubs. This suggests that red wolves are habitat generalists and can thrive in most settings where prey populations are adequate and persecution by humans is slight.
Age to Maturity:
22 – 46 months, occasionally 10 months.
Gestation Period:
61 – 63 days.
Birth Season:
Mating occurs from January – April; young are born in the spring.
Birth Rate:
1 – 11 cubs per litter; the average is 6. There is one litter per year.
Early Development:
Weaning occurs at 8 – 10 weeks.
Maximum Age:
Up to 13 years in the wild, 16 years in captivity.
Diet:
In the past, the red wolf had been reported to eat animals up to the size of small deer, including pigs; raccoons; muskrats, nutria, and other rodents; and rabbits. It will also eat carrion.
Analysis of scat of the current, re-introduced wild population of red wolves indicates that white-tailed deer, raccoon and marsh rabbits are primary year-round food items and account for approximately 90% of the weight of food consumed by these wolves. Although some of the deer were probably eaten as carrion, wolf predation of apparently healthy deer has been documented.
Behavior:
Red wolf cubs are born in dens, which can be located in the trunks of hollow trees, stream banks or sand knolls. The dens are either excavated by the wolves or taken over from another animal. The red wolf is primarily nocturnal, but it may increase its daytime activity during the winter. It hunts over a relatively small part of its home range for about 7 – 10 days and then shifts to another area.
Social Organization:
The red wolf is a pack-living animal with a complex social organization, similar to that of the gray wolf. Packs are primarily family groups led by a mated, territorial pair.
Mortality and Survival:
Few individuals survive more than 4 years in the wild. Survival of re-introduced adults through 1993 was about 50% after 3 years
Density and Range:
Home range in southeast Texas was variously reported: 1) to average 44 sq km (17 sq mi) for 7 individuals; 2) to cover 65 – 130 sq km (25 – 50 sq mi) over 1 – 2 years; and 3) to average 78 sq km (30 sq mi) for females and 116.5 sq km (53 sq mi) for males.
The size of home ranges of red wolves in the re-introduced population varied according to habitat. In forested areas consisting of pine/hardwood swamps in various stages of succession, the home range of one pack that included 11 different wolves was about 100 sq km (40 sq mi). In agricultural areas consisting of planted fields interspersed among early to mid-successional fallow fields and pine/hardwood stands, the home ranges of eight lone wolves and four packs involving 30 different wolves measured about 50 sq km (20 sq mi).
