U.S. Banks On Coyotes To Repopulate Extinct Red Wolves In The Wild

After a determined local biologist persuaded scientists to take a closer look, they found that the canids in Texas— which include wolves, coyotes, foxes, and domestic dogs — are mostly coyotes, but have a legacy of red wolf DNA.

Photo Insert: A coyote on the prowl

The hybrid canids thus raise new conservation possibilities for the red wolf, which has been extinct in the wild, the New York Times reported.

For instance, scientists might be able to restore genetic diversity by breeding captive red wolves with hybrids that have high levels of red wolf ancestry.

By doing so, scientists could technically breed red wolves and send them back into the wild and hope that their number would increase substantially.

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