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| Red Wolf Recovery Under Assault in North Carolina; Proposal of Ending the Red Wolf Recovery Program | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 5 2015, 03:54 AM (3,019 Views) | |
| Sicilianu | Feb 5 2015, 03:54 AM Post #1 |
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Omnivore
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Wildlife Commission says no more red wolves![]() The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has publicly denounced the red wolf reintroduction in coastal counties, calling for the red wolves to be rounded up — despite being the only wild population of red wolves on the planet. Last week, the Commission adopted two resolutions: one requesting that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service end the red wolf reintroduction, and the second asking the agency to capture and remove all the wolves and their offspring that have ended up on private land. It is the latest shot fired in an ongoing dispute over the endangered red wolf population along the N.C. coast. Previously, the Wildlife Commission was the target of a court case claiming nighttime hunting of coyotes in red wolf territory was detrimental to the endangered species. Red wolves look like coyotes, and night hunting increases the risk of red wolves being shot accidentally, according to the court suit. So the Wildlife Commission was forced to rein in coyote hunting in red wolf territory, imposing limits and restrictions on when, where and how coyote hunting could occur. But the Wildlife Commission continued to assert that shooting nuisance coyotes should trump concerns over red wolves and has now made its opposition to the red wolf reintroduction official. In the resolution last week, the Commission said that the red wolves were interbreeding with coyotes and encroaching on private lands, and that the red wolf introduction in five coastal counties should end. The Southern Environmental Law Center, which brought a lawsuit in 2012 opposing the Commission’s red wolf management, disagrees. “Red wolves have lived — and thrived — on the current mix of private and public lands for 25 years, becoming one of the most successful predator reintroductions in U.S. history,” said Sierra Weaver, senior attorney with SELC. “Asking that the federal government declare ‘extinct’ the 100 red wolves that live in eastern North Carolina is a blatant attempt to remove from the wild one of our country’s most beloved animals.” For its part, U.S. Fish and Wildlife released a 171-page evaluation of the program in November 2014 and is expected to release a decision on the program’s future early this year. Meanwhile, the Wildlife Commission is accepting public comment through March 16 on the retooling of coyote hunting rules in red wolf territory. www.ncwildlife.org/ProposedRegulations.aspx As one of my favorite animals in the world, I am deeply saddened by this statement. Although the United States government has not released its final decision, I do not think this will end well. I know that not everyone on this board agrees that the red wolf, Canis rufus, is indeed a species, although I can provide a great deal of literature showing that such an opinion is based on flawed research; however, we still have much to learn about these animals. Honestly, I feel that it would have been less of a tragedy to have had the red wolf go extinct in the 1980's than to condemn a species that has had success in recovery to go extinct. It flies in the face of all that conservation stands for. Edited by Sicilianu, Feb 5 2015, 10:15 AM.
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| kingkazma | Feb 5 2015, 08:04 AM Post #2 |
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Apex Predator
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Ridiculous. Please sign this petition http://www.thepetitionsite.com/529/427/495/north-carolina-dont-abandon-red-wolf-recovery/ Edited by kingkazma, Feb 5 2015, 08:13 AM.
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| Sicilianu | Feb 6 2015, 01:38 AM Post #3 |
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Omnivore
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Yes, I signed that petition as well. I am really bummed about this. I have followed this animal since I was a child through all of the controversies and conservation efforts. Hopefully the red wolf will make it through this next attempt at extinction. |
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| Creeper | Feb 6 2015, 03:27 AM Post #4 |
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Carboniferous Arthropod
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Signed the petition, posted it on my Facebook too. I would plead you all do the same, whether you believe its a species or not, this population deserves a chance. |
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| Sicilianu | Feb 6 2015, 10:45 AM Post #5 |
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Omnivore
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Thanks for spreading the word. It is a shame we are giving up on an animal that we know so little about. Whether you think it is a hybrid or not, these animal possess important genes unique to southeastern United States that will be gone most likely forever. |
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| MightyKharza | Feb 7 2015, 12:18 AM Post #6 |
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Omnivore
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Interesting article from the opposing side:
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| Sicilianu | Feb 7 2015, 01:30 AM Post #7 |
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Omnivore
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I knew in the first few lines who wrote that piece. This guy got all excited by the red wolf is a hybrid paper, because that was his personal hunch, that he has since considered every scientist and specialist since then who disapproves of the paper as being biased. He fails to see the hypocrisy of his own position. The vast majority of canid scientists (why are we worried about a lay blogger anyway??) consider the red wolf worthy of conservation. Indeed the majority of these scientists also consider the red wolf to be a unique species to North America. At a minimum, we should at least let a study come out that supports or contradicts the red wolf hybrid study (vanHoldt et al 2011) using similar methods. Such an approach is simply good science. People think genetic analyses are fool proof, yet they fail to realize how complex this approach to phylogenetics is. There are often multiple trees produced by genetic analysis, with the tree with the lowest "error" being chosen as most likely. This sounds wonderfully simple but the fact of the matter is that many of these trees don't always make sense with similar trees using similar techniques in other studies. We are still unsure about the phylogenetics of Panthera. These are popular animals, and there is certainly no shortage of attempts to elucidate their evolutionary relationships over the past two decades using genetic analyses. People seem all too hasty to put the final nail in the coffin of these animals. Calling a species extinct when it clearly still exists would be the greatest tragedy to hit conservation biology since its conception. This is nothing personal against you MightyKharza. I know you are simply trying to provide a different perspective, and I appreciate that. All sides of the story should be told. /End rant. EDIT: For the most up to date summary of North American Canis, I refer you to: Chambers et al. 2012. An account of the taxonomy of North American wolves from morphological and genetic analyses. Here is the paper that found red wolves to be hybrids: vonHoldt et al. 2011. A genome-wide perspective on the evolutionary history of enigmatic wolf-like canids EDIT 2: Again, I hope I do not appear to be overzealous, and I certainly don't want to be closed off to other studies/opinions. As I said, I have followed this story, watching it unfold, since I was in secondary school. It is an issue near and dear to my heart. Edited by Sicilianu, Feb 7 2015, 02:07 AM.
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| Mesopredator | Feb 7 2015, 02:51 AM Post #8 |
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Disaster taxa
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Blegh politics. Now on the species debate. Let's say the species is a hybrid. This one is natural unlike let's say the sika deer x red deer and white-headed duck x ruddy duck. Is it worth preserving a hybrid species? Yes or no? Why? |
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| kingkazma | Feb 7 2015, 04:31 AM Post #9 |
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Apex Predator
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Actually, I was the one who told retreiverman about this. I thought he'd like to know. Of course, I knew his reaction wouldn't be the greatest. |
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| Sicilianu | Feb 7 2015, 04:31 AM Post #10 |
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Omnivore
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If the red wolf is indeed a natural hybrid, it is worth preserving the unique genes that it possess. In other words, the goal would be to preserve the evolutionary process that was taking place prior to disruption by Europeans. As I have said in previous posts,, hybridization lacks a negative stigma in botany. It is seen as a perfectly valid method of speciation. |
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| kingkazma | Feb 7 2015, 04:39 AM Post #11 |
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Apex Predator
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![]() Compare with modern red wolves. Fairly similar. As to interbreeding with coyotes, it's probably not too common. The wolves know the difference. From Reddhole: Red-Wolf Coyote Interactions Today's wolf focus (11301M) was collared late last winter while still a yearling and living with the pack in his natal home-range just south of Columbia, NC. The subsequent collar downloads provided us with accurate home range data from where he was born and much more. Because most young wolves disperse from the pack between 12-24 months of age, we were able to follow 11301M as he left his natal home range this spring and began his travels from place to place. We could see his path as he seemed to go from wolf pack to wolf pack looking for a place to live. We could see how he skirted the core areas of the adjacent packs in order to stay out of trouble with other wolves (a smart thing for a young single wolf). We even tracked him as he moved completely around Lake Phelps before stopping on Pocosin Lakes NWR where a female wolf (11358F-also born in 2004) had just paired with a sterilized, radio-collared wolf/coyote hybrid. The most recent download showed how 11301M not only displaced the hybrid out of the pack's area, but likely killed him. After retrieving the carcass, our theory seemed to be correct. As I fly over Pocosin Lakes today, I can see that 11301M has paired with 11358F. Together, they will now form the new Pocosin Lakes pack. These types of wolf/non-wolf interactions where the non-wolves are displaced, are some of the observations the new GPS collars will allow us to record. http://www.fws.gov/alligatorriver/red%20wolf/rwnotes7-06.html ![]() Edited by kingkazma, Feb 7 2015, 04:47 AM.
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| Sicilianu | Feb 7 2015, 07:58 AM Post #12 |
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Omnivore
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Red wolves are confined to a very small area, with no certain place for them to expand. Wolves, and all Canis for that matter, are wide ranging. Restricting them to such small areas and calling them recovered is not conservation. All recovery programs are doomed to fail that have rules in place to inhibit normal population growth and expansion. The edge of their range may always be a place of hybridization, but when their range is so small, it gives the appearance of nothing more than a hybrid swarm and failed recovery. The program needs to be fixed, not abandoned. |
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| Mauro20 | Feb 7 2015, 08:56 AM Post #13 |
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Badass
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The problem with hybrids is that many of them are a big source of genetic pollution for similar, nearby species, so some conservationists don't like them very much. I'm not sure if this is the case of the red wolf, but I do believe they are more likely to hybridize with coyotes than "pure" wolves. |
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| Mesopredator | Feb 7 2015, 07:33 PM Post #14 |
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Disaster taxa
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I know about genetic pollution, but I thought this was only a concern when it happens with non-native species such as the examples I made. Or with subspecies in zoos and when reintroducing species. Not say, naturally occurring hooded crow x carrion crow. Because I haven't heard of concerns about hooded crow x carrion crow. And in Europe the interbreeding with wolf subspecies is recommended. |
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| maker | Feb 7 2015, 07:51 PM Post #15 |
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Apex Predator
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Hybrid > inbreeding Red wolves should be allowed to naturally hybridize to coyotes to avoid inbreeding. Edited by maker, Feb 7 2015, 07:52 PM.
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