It’s that time of year again when we travel to a place where Red Wolves are all the rage and where everyone has Red Wolves on their minds –the annual Red Wolf Species Survival Plan (RWSSP) summit meeting. This year Hope Howard and I traveled to Tacoma, Washington where the entire Red Wolf program started. We always have a great time on these trips, when we see our Red Wolf partners, discuss all things Red Wolf and create the breeding pairs and transfer recommendations for the upcoming breeding season.
One thing most people don’t realize is how breeding recommendations work. It’s quite simple because all captive Red Wolves’ pedigrees are kept in a computer program that allows us to make virtual pairings to determine whether a particular pair will increase diversity or not. Prior to the meeting, it is determined how many births are needed to offset deaths and maintain the current population size and how many births are needed to grow the population at a rate of 2%. We assume a litter size of 4 and a 25% probability of successful reproducing – these numbers drive our decisions of how many breeding pairs to create. Another important factor is space to house these animals. We can breed Red Wolves and have many pups, but there must be a place to house them. In a perfect world, all the cooperators would have unlimited funds and space to build big enclosures to house, care for and feed all the pups and parents! (The CNC’s latest Red Wolf enclosure cost approximately $15,000!)
The fostering process helps with the space issue if the timing is right. Sometimes a breeding pair is identified as a potential fostering opportunity—whose pups may be fostered into a wild den. After the captive litter is born, the Red Wolf biologists look for a wild litter with pups the same age as the captive pups. Usually this captive litter is in close proximity to the wild refuge so the transfer can happen quickly; the pups must be less than two weeks old. The fostering process also introduces the captive bloodline to the wild bloodline which creates diversity.
Last year, the father of our 2007 pups had a litter of 4 which was to be fostered, but the litter was born early in the season and there was not a wild den available. The three males from this litter are transferring to CNC! We are holding 1275F, 1566M and 1567M. Red Wolf 1377F will transfer to another facility and we will be receiving 1370F to pair with CNC’s 1408M as a breeding pair! Our pack will be 8 strong with the possibility of 2010 pups!
CNC continues to be one of the most engaged cooperators of the RWSSP and our attendance at this meeting each year confirms our strong association and allows us to be an integral part of the decision making process.