The lawsuit alleges that hunters could mistake the endangered
red wolf for a coyote when night hunting, and thus could
jeopardize the already fragile population of red wolves in the
state. Eastern North Carolina is home to the only wild
population of red wolves, one of the world’s most endangered
animals. The Southern Environmental Law Center filed the court
challenge against the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission on
behalf of the Red Wolf Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife and the
Animal Welfare Institute. To prevent wolves interbreeding with
coyotes — another threat to the wolf population — the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service sterilizes coyotes that have territories
within red wolf habitat. Shooting sterilized coyotes will undo
effective coyote population control efforts, as new coyotes that
aren’t sterilized will simply move into the unoccupied
territory. In public comments on the proposed permanent rule to
allow spotlight hunting, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
echoed these concerns, stating that spotlig