Red wolf female #1858 gave birth to a litter of six pups April 28th. They are the first critically endangered red wolves born at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, North Carolina, since 2002. While this is great news for an endangered species, the red wolf faces an existential threat far beyond the fact that its numbers have dwindled to around 300 individuals.
Source: Smithsonian, May 1, 2017.
There has been a long debate about whether the small canid is its own species or a hybrid between the gray wolf and the coyote. Bob Holmes at New Scientist reports that last summer detailed genetic analysis confirmed that the wolves were indeed a hybrid of the two species. Holmes reports that since the Endangered Species Act does not address hybrids, it’s possible that the red wolf could be stripped of its protections.