With reports speculating that only 300 red wolves remaining in the world, the N.C. State mascot will be facing an uphill battle to repopulate its species. The Red Wolf Coalition of North Carolina has therefore dedicated a week to the wolf between Oct. 16 and 22.

Throughout North Carolina, there are various programs devoted to the conservation of red wolves, the state’s native wolf.

The North Carolina Museum of Life and Science is having a week full of guest speakers, kids programs and an exhibit all devoted to the red wolf, according to Sherry Samuels, the animal department director of the museum.

“Our goal is to share with people any information about our current wolves, about red wolves and red wolf conservation in general, and what people might be able to do to support wolves,” Samuels said.

According to Samuels, the museum deals with educating the public on wolves and wolf conservation. However, the red wolves at the museum are part of the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan.

“This program runs through the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, where institutions operate together to bring recovery back to a certain species,” Samuels said.  

The museum has been a member of the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan since 1992 and is one of 40 institutions in the U.S. that have red wolves.

There is only one event at the museum that charges a fee. A portion of the proceeds from this event goes to the Red Wolf Coalition to support red wolf conservation, according to Samuels.

“There are lots of different things [the public can do to help the red wolf remain a healthy species],” Samuels said. “First you need to become aware, and understand that we need large carnivores in the ecosystem to keep it healthy. From there it could go to wherever the person’s passion lies whether through financial donations or further education.”

While the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science has an entire week devoted to the Red Wolf, Liz Mahaffey, a former police officer, devoted her life to red wolf conservation.

Mahaffey is the Director of The Wolf Sanctum, a program devoted to giving animals sanctuary that need it and to educating the public about wolves. 

In 1994, Georgia, where Mahaffey lived at the time, made wolves and wolfdogs illegal to own. Furthermore, if wolves or wolfdogs were found, they would be put down immediately. Mahaffey began looking after peoples’ wolves and wolfdogs since she had some of her own. Then she moved to North Carolina, where she started The Wolf Sanctum in 2001.

This sort of legislation is wrong, according to Mahaffey.

“You have to realize,” Mahaffey said, “that there are differences between wolfdogs and domestic dogs…domestic dogs have more of a child-like demeanor, compared to wolves who are more like adults”.

This, according to Mahaffey, is why wolves and wolfdogs must be treated differently than domestic dogs. Because humans have inbred domestic dogs, they have thereby made them docile and easy to control, according to Mahaffey. This is what makes wolves and wolfdogs different, since they are much more intelligent and less compliant. For this reason, Mahaffey does not recommend anyone get a wolf or wolfdog without the proper education.

You may wonder how exactly humans developed a fear of wolves, while, at the same time, have developed a love for dogs. According to Mahaffey, this arose from the time when lots of people kept sheep. Since wolves attacked sheep, people developed a fear of them. However, according to Mahaffey, all dogs descended from wolves, and wolves were man’s first domestic canine.

One of Mahaffey’s main concerns is when states like Idaho and other Western States take wolves off the endangered species list. While a wolf population may reach a healthy level, taking them off of the endangered species list allows hunters to kill the wolves back into endangerment. This happens, according to Mahaffey, because it is hard to keep track of how many wolves have been killed. Therefore, limits to the number of wolves to be killed will be broken.

Samuels and Mahaffey both stressed wolves are an important part of North American ecology.