Endangered red wolves on the line in lawsuit over night
huntingWritten by Admin After four endangered red wolves were
killed by hunters who possibly mistook them for coyotes while
night hunting, a North Carolina judge has temporarily halted
spotlight hunting of coyotes in five eastern counties where the
world’s only wild population of red wolves is found. The N.C.
Wildlife Commission permitted this year nighttime spotlight
hunting of coyotes, hoping to put a dent in the nuisance
species. But coyotes look a lot like endangered red wolves,
whose wild population numbers only about 100. Red wolves had
once been declared extinct in the wild until reintroduced
through captive breeding programs. Environmental groups
vigorously protested nighttime spotlight hunting of coyotes,
when the Wildlife Commission first proposed it earlier this
year, for its potential harm to red wolves. Red wolves and
coyotes are similar in size, fur, and coloring, so red wolves
are frequently mistaken for coyotes, even in daylight. But the