Military lands provide an opportunity to recover red wolves | The Journal of Wildlife

Keating MP, Harris SN, Horton CE, Krugler JD, Lusk LD, Nettles JM, Steen KN, Hinton JW, Jachowski DS. Military lands provide an opportunity to recover red wolves. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 2026 Jun

Abstract

Red wolf (Canis rufus) recovery has been tumultuous and challenging, with only a single population persisting in a 5-county reintroduction site. Recovery of the species requires at least 3 populations, but no new reintroductions have been attempted since 1998. Despite a relatively large land base in the southeastern United States, high levels of biodiversity, and a mandate to conserve and restore endangered species, military lands are conspicuously absent from past evaluations of potential red wolf release sites. Military lands support high densities of red wolf prey species, have low densities of humans, and offer resources to mitigate hybridization with coyotes (Canis latrans) via intensive management. Thus, we propose that a focus on military lands across the southeastern United States for reintroduction sites could offer an important path forward in recovering the world’s most endangered canid.