US commits to releasing more endangered red wolves into the wild, settling lawsuit

By BEN FINLEY
Associated Press

The U.S. government will settle a lawsuit with conservation groups and commit to releasing more endangered red wolves into North Carolina. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had mostly stopped releasing captive-bred wolves in 2015. Eastern North Carolina is the only place in the world where they roam wild. The Southern Environmental Law Center filed the lawsuit in 2020. A settlement agreement was reached Wednesday. Red wolves once occupied much of the Eastern U.S. but were driven to near extinction by hunting and habitat loss. They were reintroduced to North Carolina in 1987.