Currently, the field biologists of the Red Wolf Recovery Program are spending
many hours trapping wild red wolves. It’s
the time of year when efforts are focused on capturing pups from last season in
order to assess their health and fit them for a radio-telemetry collar to
ensure future monitoring. To safeguard
against poor collar fit, we wait until pups are approximately 8-9 months old
and have reached their full size. Once a
red wolf is captured
via a soft-catch steel leg-hold trap, it is secured in a kennel and
transported to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Red Wolf Education and
Health Care Facility. Here, it is processed
and held prior to its release.
Wild red wolves are instinctively fearful of humans and are
generally docile when handled. A wolf is typically restrained by placing a
muzzle over its mouth, tying or holding its hind legs together, and keeping a
hand on its shoulder to hold it down. All precautions are taken to maximize the
safety of the wolf as well as the biologists handling the wolf.
Wolf biologists performing a health check and fitting a red wolf for
a radio-telemetry collar. Photos by C. Lucash/USFWS.
Processing involves recording the wolf’s weight and body
measurements, drawing a blood sample for future research, administering
vaccines to prevent rabies and other common canid diseases, assessing the
overall health of the wolf, and finally, fitting it with either a GPS or VHF
radio telemetry collar so that it can be monitored upon release. This year, Red
Wolf Recovery Program biologists are also helping Louisiana State
University graduate student, Kristin Brzeski, to
collect ectoparasites from a captured wild red wolves. Ectoparasites, such as
ticks, are being collected from wolves as part of a larger study examining red
wolf immunocompetence (more to come on this research project soon!).
Radio-collared red wolf in kennel, waiting for transport and release. Photo by C. Lucash/USFWS.
After the processing is complete, the wolf is usually transported
back to its home range and released (see videos below). In some special cases,
biologists can also pair up individuals who have previously lost a mate. In cases like these, the animals are
introduced to each other in a captive pen to hopefully establish a bond and
become a breeding pair in the home range of the original wolf. Stay tuned for
more details on a pair like this (blog forthcoming on Valentine’s Day)!
Red wolf releases. Videos by A. Beyer/USFWS.
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