Red wolves are shy, elusive, and misunderstood predators. Until the
1800s, they were common in the longleaf pine savannas and deciduous
forests of the southeastern United States. However, habitat
degradation, persecution, and interbreeding with the coyote nearly
annihilated them. Today, reintroduced red wolves are found only in
peninsular northeastern North Carolina within less than 1 percent
of their former range. In
The Secret World of Red Wolves,
nature writer T. DeLene Beeland shadows the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service's pioneering recovery program over the course of a year to
craft an intimate portrait of the red wolf, its history, and its
restoration. Her engaging exploration of this top-level predator
traces the intense effort of conservation personnel to save a
species that has slipped to the verge of extinction.
Beeland weaves together the voices of scientists, conservationists,
and local landowners while posing larger questions about human
coexistence with red wolves, our understanding of what defines this
animal as a distinct species, and how climate change may swamp its
current habitat.