Red wolves were once found throughout the southeastern United States,as far north as Pennsylvania and and as far west as central Texas. In the 1600 there were probably about100,000 red wolfs, by the 1960s so many had been killed that concern was shown about the fate of the red wolf..

In 1962, biologist Howard McCarley published a study warning that red wolfs were interbreeding with coyotes.

Red wolf numbers had decreased so much that some could not find mates so mated instead with coyotes. Their hybrid offspring looked like wolves only much smaller in size.

In the mid-1960s, the red wolf was added to the federal list of endangered species, but still the government cotinued to fund predator-control programs that included shooting and poisoning red wolves in the last remaining places where they were found.

It was worried that even if the remaining red wolves were able to survive in the wild, eventually there would not be any pure red wolves left, only hybrids. So in 1975 it was decided that all remaining purebred red wolves would be taken into captivity to keep the species alive.

With a lot of determination, hard work and dedication, study and breeding, By the fall of 1993 the red wolf population was close to 250, with more than 50 in the wild. The return of the red wolf represented the first time a captive-bred North American mammal had become extinct in the wild and had been returned successfully to a native habitat. There is still a long way to go, though, before red wolves are fully reestablished in the wild.The red wolf's success is helping to pave the way for other wolves ,also. The experience of the reintroduction program has demonstrated that wolves and people can exist side by side.