Endangered red wolf families released in Eastern North Carolina

NORTH CAROLINA (WTVD) -- Two families of red wolves are roaming free in eastern North Carolina.

According to the red wolf recovery program, the two families were released into separate areas of the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Tyrrell County.

One family consists of a wild female red wolf, fostered from the Akron Zoo, paired in an acclimation pen with a captive-born male red wolf from the Endangered Wolf Center in Eureka, Missouri, along with their three pups.

The second family is a captive-born female and male red wolf pair, along with their year-old female pup from the Endangered Wolf Center and four pups that were born in the spring.

The recovery group said it hopes that the red wolves will continue to raise their families in the general areas to help increase the numbers of the endangered animals in eastern North Carolina.