This video was produced by Jeff Mittlestadt, a journalism graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It was published yesterday on Reese News. Jeff’s thesis work focuses on red wolves, and in this video he shows wild canids active at night, and asks: Are these red wolves or coyotes? The question gets to the issue of whether coyote hunters would be able to satisfactorily distinguish between common coyotes and globally imperiled red wolves if the state allows them to shoot coyotes at night, statewide, with no bag limit and no permit required. Listen to local hunters from Hyde County, within the red wolf recovery area, discuss whether or not they shoot coyotes now and why or why not.
Do you think nighttime coyote hunting ought to be legal in North Carolina? Tell the state Wildlife Resources Commission whether you agree or disagree with their proposal to allow it. Read proposal W1 on this page, then click on the online form to submit your comments. The comment period is open until April 16 — just four more days. (If you are not a NC resident, you can still comment, just select your state in question-6, and scroll past all the NC counties for question-7 to select “out of state” at the very bottom.)
I don’t know if you’ve heard about this study by Robert K. Wayne, but he claims there’s no such species as the red wolf. He analyzed the DNA from 6 red wolf skins dating to 1910 and determined they were all gray wolf-coyote hybrids. The title of the article is “Molecular Evolution of the Dog Family.” I tried to link it but it won’t work but you can find the article online.
Hello Mark, I’m very familiar with the study. I’ve just completed writing a book on red wolves, which includes a chapter that reviews the major papers in red wolf genetics. I encourage you to read it when it comes out. There are two other lines of research which support the idea of the red wolf being a unique species (one line is genetics, the other morphology/fossils). The study you mention has some issues with the samples that were utilized.
I will. What’s the publication date of your book?
It’s due for release early next year. In the middle of revisions at the moment, actually.