Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: Are red wolves endangered?
The red wolf (Canis lupus rufus[6][7] or Canis rufus[4]) is a canine native to the southeastern United States. The subspecies is the product of ancient genetic admixture between the gray wolf and the coyote,[8][9] however it is regarded as unique and therefore worthy of conservation.[10] Morphologically it is intermediate between the coyote and gray wolf, and is of a reddish, tawny color.[11][12] The US Endangered Species Act of 1973 currently does not provide protection for endangered admixed individuals and researchers argue that these should warrant full protection under the Act.[8][10] However, the red wolf when considered as a species is listed as an endangered species under this Act and is protected by law.[13] Although Canis rufus is not listed in the CITES Appendices of endangered species,[2] since 1996 the IUCN has listed it as a critically endangered species.[2]
The 2008 Arkansas State Red Wolves football team represents Arkansas State University in the 2008 college football season. The Red Wolves played five home games at ASU Stadium in Jonesboro, Arkansas, including Southern Miss, Middle Tennessee, and Florida Atlantic. The Red Wolves had a difficult season, playing against Texas A&M to start the season off, and later playing Alabama. Arkansas State has played a SEC school for the past three years.
In 2015, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada changed its designation of the eastern wolf from "Canis lupus lycaon" to "Canis cf lycaon" ("Canis" species believed to be "lycaon") and a species at risk. Later that year, a study compared the DNA sequences using 127,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (mutations) of wolves and coyotes. The study indicated that eastern wolves were a distinct genomic cluster, which did not exclude a possibility that a gray wolf x eastern wolf hybrid ("C. l. lycaon") historically inhabited the same area as the eastern wolf. The study did not include red wolves.
Unlike eastern wolves and red wolves, the gray wolf species rarely interbreeds with coyotes in the wild. Direct hybridizations between coyotes and gray wolves was never explicitly observed. Nevertheless, in a study that analyzed the molecular genetics of the coyotes as well as samples of historical red wolves and Mexican wolves from Texas, a few coyote genetic markers have been found in the historical samples of some isolated individual Mexican wolves. Likewise, gray wolf Y-chromosomes have also been found in a few individual male Texan coyotes. This study suggested that although the Mexican gray wolf is generally less prone to hybridizations with coyotes compared to the red wolf, there may have been exceptional genetic exchanges with the Texan coyotes among a few individual gray wolves from historical remnants before the population was completely extirpated in Texas. However, the same study also countered that theory with an alternative possibility that it may have been the red wolves, who in turn also once overlapped with both species in the central Texas region, who were involved in circuiting the gene-flows between the coyotes and gray wolves much like how the eastern wolf is suspected to have bridged gene-flows between gray wolves and coyotes in the Great Lakes region since direct hybridizations between coyotes and gray wolves is considered rare.
The Endangered Wolf Center is a non-profit wildlife facility in Eureka, Missouri, United States, near St. Louis that is dedicated to preserving and reintroducing to the wild critically endangered species of wolves. It is certified by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The Center was founded in 1971 by renowned naturalist Marlin Perkins and his wife Carol, who saw that wolves around the world were in danger of becoming extinct. Its mission is to preserve and protect Mexican wolves, red wolves, and other wild canid species, with purpose and passion, through carefully managed breeding, reintroduction and inspiring education programs. Animals born at the facility have been reintroduced to North Carolina (red wolves) and Arizona and New Mexico (Mexican wolves). The Center's research focuses on reproductive, behavioral and nutritional needs for the species housed there. The Endangered Wolf Center is a founding member of the AZA’s Mexican Wolf and Red Wolf Species Survival Plans. As of August 2016, the Center had six species of endangered canids: Mexican wolves, red wolves, maned wolves, African painted dogs, fennec foxes and swift foxes. It had more than 20 Mexican gray wolves, more than any other managed breeding facility. (Only 97 Mexican wolves were known to exist in the wild as of 2015.) The Center serves as the cornerstone of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's program to preserve Mexican wolves and reintroduce them to the wild.
On January 31, 2008, Arkansas State University's Mascot Selection Steering Committee decided to use the "Wolves" as a mascot. The Red Wolves was officially approved by the NCAA on March 7, 2008. The unveiling ceremony for the new Red Wolves logo was held March 13, 2008. The University planned on doing a slow phase out of the Indian imagery on the Arkansas State University campus. Dr. Dean Lee, the University's athletic director at the time, announced the Indian imagery would be phased out by importance, meaning the most visible sports would have the Red Wolves imagery first. Also, as part of the phaseout of the "Indians" nickname, the school immediately changed the name of its football stadium from Indian Stadium to ASU Stadium. In September 2012 the stadium's name was changed to Liberty Bank Stadium (now, , known as Centennial Bank Stadium).
A special case of introduction is the reintroduction of a species that has become locally endangered or extinct, done in the interests of conservation. Examples of successful reintroductions include wolves to Yellowstone National Park in the U.S., and the red kite to parts of England and Scotland. Introductions or translocations of species have also been proposed in the interest of genetic conservation, which advocates the introduction of new individuals into genetically depauperate populations of endangered or threatened species.
Explore the Wild is home to American black bears, red wolves, lemurs, and radiated tortoises. 
It features a boardwalk over a preserved natural space, plus many multimedia exhibits. The exhibit opened in May 2006. The museum is part of preservation efforts for the red wolves and radiated tortoises. In spring 2017 the red wolf pair housed at the museum had a litter of 4 pups. These pups accounted for 2% of the entire red wolf population at the time. As part of the red wolf Specific Survival Plan the museum participates in, the family of wolves was moved to another facility in New York and a new pair of wolves came to the museum. Spring 2018 brought a litter of 2 pups to the new red wolf pair. The four wolves remain at the museum for the time being. 
In 2018 the museum joined efforts for radiated tortoise conservation after the April 20, 2018 discovery of 10,000 housed illegally in Madagascar. The museum hosted a fundraiser to raise money for the tortoises at the museum and a conservation group in August 2018.
The Wildlands Network focuses on merging science and activism in order to protect the remaining red wolves in the southeastern United States. The red wolf is one of the critically endangered in the world. Only about 30-50 of them exist in the wild. The Network is trying to take measures on their behalf in order for them to survive. Red wolves are essential for keeping deer populations in check because deer are destructive to vegetation. Red wolves also help keep smaller animals in check, preventing them from overpopulating. 
The Wildlands Network is currently focused on three major campaigns to save the Red Wolves. Firstly, installing cameras in the areas where red wolves are known to roam, and releasing the footage to the public in order to show that wolves are not overkilling deer, but rather keeping their populations in check. Secondly, promoting political pressure on the United States Fish and Wildlife Services, which is the main U.S agency in charge of conservation efforts of Red Wolves under the Endangered Species Act. Thirdly, advocating for red wolves targeting the public such as through newspapers, presentations, and rallies.
Being an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the zoo partakes in multiple captive breeding programs and Species Survival Plans. The zoo works to care for and breed multiple endangered species such as Amur tigers, Amur leopards, Canada lynx, Brazilian ocelots, red wolves, Mexican wolves, maned wolves, giant anteaters, Chacoan peccaries, golden lion tamarins, North American river otters, Andean condors, spotted turtles, and eastern hellbenders.
The 2009 Arkansas State Red Wolves football team represented Arkansas State University in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS college football season. The Red Wolves, led by 8th year head coach Steve Roberts, played their home games at ASU Stadium. The Red Wolves finished the season 4–8 and 3–5 in Sun Belt play.
North American area: Critically endangered red wolves, Xena the bald eagle, a North American porcupine, and yellow-backed duikers
The campaign to restore the gray wolf in Yellowstone had its roots in a number of seminal studies related to the predator-prey ecology of the park. In 1940 Adolph Murie published "Ecology of the Coyote in the Yellowstone National Park". That study and his 1940–41 work "The Wolves of Mount McKinley" was instrumental in building a scientific foundation for wolf conservation. In 1944, noted wildlife biologist Aldo Leopold, once an avid predator control advocate, made the following comments in his review of "The Wolves of North America", Young and Goldman, 1944:
By the 1960s, cultural and scientific understanding of ecosystems was changing attitudes toward the wolf and other large predators. In part, this included the emergence of Robert Paine's concept of the keystone species. In the early 1960s, Douglas Pimlott, a noted Canadian wildlife biologist was calling for the restorations of wolves in the northern rockies. In 1970 American wolf expert, David Mech published "The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species" (1970, 1981), an enlightening study of the wolf and its impact on its environment. In 1978, when wildlife biologist John Weaver published his seminal study "Wolves of Yellowstone", he concluded the report with the following recommendation:
The gray wolf was one of the first species to be listed as endangered (1967) under the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966. However, until the passage of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, there was no legal basis or process for re-introducing the gray wolf to Yellowstone National Park and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The Endangered Species Act obligated the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop restoration plans for each species designated as "Endangered". The first recovery plan was completed in 1980 but gained little traction. In 1987, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a revised "Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Plan" which led the way to wolf reintroduction. The plan was a cooperative effort between the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, academia, state wildlife agencies and environmental groups. Its Executive Summary contains the following:
In 1991 Congress directed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the express purpose of reintroducing wolves into Yellowstone National Park and regions of Central Idaho. The final statement was published on April 14, 1994 and seriously examined five potential alternatives for reestablishing wolves in Yellowstone and central Idaho.
In northeast Oregon, also in July 2008, wolf howls were heard by biologists who identified at least 2 adults and 2 pups. This was the first confirmed breeding pair in Oregon. By December 2011, Oregon's gray wolf population had grown to 24. One of the Oregon gray wolves, known as OR-7, traveled more than to the Klamath Basin and crossed the border into California. Wolf OR-7 became the first wolf west of the Cascades in Oregon since the last bounty was claimed in 1947. Oregon's wolf population increased to 77 wolves in 15 packs with 8 breeding pairs as of the end of 2015. As a result, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife proposed to delist wolves from their protected species list. On January 14, 2009, the United States Department of the Interior removed the Canadian gray wolf from the Endangered Species List in every American state except Wyoming. This move was blocked by lawsuits filed by conservation groups, but was successfully delisted on April 15, 2011 by the US Congress as part of a budget bill.
On August 31, 2012, Governor Matt Mead of Wyoming announced that wolves were no longer on the endangered species list in the state of Wyoming; therefore, they no longer need special protections from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The wolf population in Wyoming is then controlled by the state. But on September 23, 2014, wolves in Wyoming are again listed as nonessential experimental population under the Endangered Species Act.
Wolf Haven International, originally known as Wolf Haven America and Wolf Haven Country, is a wolf sanctuary and management 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in Tenino, Washington, that focuses on wolves. Founded in 1982 by Steve and Linda Kuntz, the organization provides educational programs on wolves, engages in wolf-related activism, and operates a sanctuary that houses displaced, captive-born wolves. It also fosters and participates in captive-breeding programs for two highly endangered types of wolves, the red wolf and the Mexican wolf. Wolf Haven is one of three facilities in the United States that provides pre-release housing for Mexican gray wolves bred for Southwest restoration programs.
The 2016 Arkansas State Red Wolves football team represented Arkansas State Red Wolves in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Red Wolves played their home games at Centennial Bank Stadium in Jonesboro, Arkansas and competed in the Sun Belt Conference. They were led by third-year head coach Blake Anderson.
In 2000, a study looked at red wolves and eastern Canadian wolves. The study agreed that these two wolves readily hybridize with the coyote. The study used 8 microsatellites (genetic markers taken from across the genome of a specimen). The phylogenetic tree produced from the genetic sequences showed red wolves and eastern Canadian wolves clustering together. These then clustered next closer with the coyote and away from the gray wolf. A further analysis using mDNA sequences indicated the presence of coyote in both of these two wolves, and that these two wolves had diverged from the coyote 150,000–300,000 years ago. No gray wolf sequences were detected in the samples. The study proposes that these findings are inconsistent with the two wolves being subspecies of the gray wolf, that red wolves and eastern Canadian wolves evolved in North America after having diverged from the coyote, and therefore they are more likely to hybridize with coyotes.[57] In 2009, a study of eastern Canadian wolves using microsatellites, mDNA, and the paternally-inherited yDNA markers found that the eastern Canadian wolf was a unique ecotype of the gray wolf that had undergone recent hybridization with other gray wolves and coyotes. It could find no evidence to support the findings of the earlier 2000 study regarding the eastern Canadian wolf. The study did not include the red wolf.[58]
The facility includes the 317-acre arboretum, 15 miles of trails, live animals indoor and outdoors, and a treehouse. The nature center participates in the endangered Red Wolf Species Survival Plan or SSP, breeding red wolves in captivity.
The 2015 Arkansas State Red Wolves football team represented Arkansas State University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by head coach Blake Anderson, who was the first Red Wolves head coach since Steve Roberts in 2002 to return for a second season at Arkansas State (the three coaches between Roberts and Anderson all left for other head coaching jobs after a single season). The Red Wolves, who play their home games at Centennial Bank Stadium in Jonesboro, Arkansas, are members of the Sun Belt Conference. The Red Wolves finished the regular season 9–3, 8–0 in Sun Belt play to win their fourth Sun Belt Championship in five seasons. In the New Orleans Bowl, the Red Wolves fell to Louisiana Tech 28–47.
Endangered species: One of the features of the park is to sit in quiet contemplation in one of the Japanese Gardens. At sunset, wolves howl as the sun sinks into the tall trees with the Olympic Mountains silhouetted on the horizon. The wolves are temporary guests as part of a restoration project for endangered species that the Zoo & Aquarium and Northwest Trek Wildlife Park sponsor.
In 1980, a study used gel electrophoresis to look at fragments of DNA taken from dogs, coyotes, and wolves from the red wolf's core range. The study found that a unique allele (expression of a gene) associated with Lactate dehydrogenase could be found in red wolves but not dogs and coyotes. The study suggests that this allele survives in the red wolf. The study did not compare gray wolves for the existence of this allele.[44]
In 2000, a study looked at red wolves and eastern Canadian wolves. The study agreed that these two wolves readily hybridize with the coyote. The study used 8 microsatellites (genetic markers taken from across the genome of a specimen). The phylogenetic tree produced from the genetic sequences showed a close relationship among the red, Algonquin Park, southern Quebec, and Minnesota wolves that all clustered together. These then clustered next closer with the coyote and away from the gray wolf. A further analysis using mDNA sequences indicated the presence of coyote in both of these two wolves, and that these two wolves had diverged from the coyote 150,000–300,000 years ago. No gray wolf sequences were detected in the samples. The study proposed that these findings are inconsistent with the two wolves being subspecies of the gray wolf, that red wolves and eastern Canadian wolves evolved in North America after having diverged from the coyote, and therefore they are more likely to hybridize with coyotes. In 2009, a study of eastern Canadian wolves - which was referred to as the "guzhzcGreat Lakes" wolf in this study - using microsatellites, mDNA, and the paternally-inherited yDNA markers found that the eastern Canadian wolf was a unique ecotype of the gray wolf that had undergone recent hybridization with other gray wolves and coyotes. It could find no evidence to support the findings of the earlier 2000 study regarding the eastern Canadian wolf. The study did not include the red wolf. This study was quickly rebutted on the grounds that it had misinterpreted the findings of earlier studies that it relied upon, nor did it provide a definition for a number of the terms that it used, such as "ecotype".
Refuge objectives are to protect and preserve unique wetland habitat types and the associated wildlife species, including endangered species such as red wolves, red-cockaded woodpeckers and American alligators. It also aims to provide a habitat for and management of waterfowl and other migratory birds, as well as for a wide variety of native wildlife species, through diverse wildlife management techniques and strategies.
The Smokies are home to over two dozen species of rodents, including the endangered northern flying squirrel, and 10 species of bats, including the endangered Indiana bat. The National Park Service has successfully reintroduced river otters and elk into the Great Smokies. An attempt to reintroduce the red wolf in the early 1990s ultimately failed. These wolves were removed from the park and relocated to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. 
The Arkansas State Red Wolves football statistical leaders are individual statistical leaders of the Arkansas State Red Wolves football program in various categories, including passing, rushing, receiving, total offense, defensive stats, and kicking. Within those areas, the lists identify single-game, single-season, and career leaders. The Red Wolves represent Arkansas State University in the NCAA's Sun Belt Conference.