2010
Notes from the artist, Susan Jamison: During my childhood, I learned to value animals, birds, and other wildlife from my mother during frequent outings into the woods. These memories strongly inform my thought process as an artist. I paint mostly animals that are native to my region. It saddens me to realize that the Red Wolf should be abundant in my area of the Mid-Atlantic, but I have never had the excitement of seeing one in the wild because they are nearly extinct. The Mill Mountain Zoo, located in the town where I live, is fortunate enough to have three Red Wolves in their Species Survival Program which aims to breed and conserve the captive populations of endangered animals at their facility. I chose to make this image to bring public attention to this program at my hometown zoo and the Red Wolf’s story. In my print the wolves are shown suspended from tenuous strands of red thread. I hope one day the metaphor of this image will be outdated through conservation programs and I can see one in the wild.
About The Mill Mountain Zoo's Red Wolf Species Survival Program: The US Fish and Wildlife service and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums have teamed up to save this endangered species. Mill Mountain Zoo participates in the Red Wolf Species Survival Program which works to build healthy captive populations of Red Wolves some of which are reintroduced to the wild. Today more than 100 Red Wolves live and reproduce in the wild thanks to this cooperative recovery effort.
About The Mill Mountain Zoo's Red Wolf Species Survival Program: The US Fish and Wildlife service and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums have teamed up to save this endangered species. Mill Mountain Zoo participates in the Red Wolf Species Survival Program which works to build healthy captive populations of Red Wolves some of which are reintroduced to the wild. Today more than 100 Red Wolves live and reproduce in the wild thanks to this cooperative recovery effort.
ABOUT THE RED WOLF
The Red Wolf (Canis rufus) is a medium-sized North American canid, generally larger than a coyote but smaller than the gray wolf. As the common name suggests, red wolves often have reddish fur on and around their ears, neck, and legs. Like other wolves, the Red Wolf is a social species that lives in packs, groups typically comprised of a mated pair and their offspring (of multiple generations). Red Wolves are crepuscular predators, most active at dusk and at dawn. They prey on white-tailed deer, raccoons, opossums, rabbits, and rodents, but are also known to scavenge.
The Red Wolf once occupied a range that extended over the forests, swamps, and coastal plains of the southern and eastern areas of the United States, as far west as Texas and as far north as New York. As with most non-domesticated canines, however, the Red Wolf was vilified as a dangerous competitor of man (and, erroneously, a "man-eater"). These entrenched, negative attitudes gave rise to aggressive predator control campaigns; wolves were poisoned, shot, and trapped. This persecution was compounded by habitat loss and disease, taking a terrible toll on red wolf populations. By 1980, the species was extinct in the wild.
Today, though, there is good news. Thanks to several focused preservation and reintroduction programs, and especially to the efforts of the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (PDZA) and the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), in conjunction with programs like that at MIll Mountain Zoo, the Red Wolf is staging a small, isolated recovery. There are now approximately 100 wolves living wild in eastern North Carolina and up to 250 individuals in zoo-based captive breeding programs.
The Red Wolf (Canis rufus) is a medium-sized North American canid, generally larger than a coyote but smaller than the gray wolf. As the common name suggests, red wolves often have reddish fur on and around their ears, neck, and legs. Like other wolves, the Red Wolf is a social species that lives in packs, groups typically comprised of a mated pair and their offspring (of multiple generations). Red Wolves are crepuscular predators, most active at dusk and at dawn. They prey on white-tailed deer, raccoons, opossums, rabbits, and rodents, but are also known to scavenge.
The Red Wolf once occupied a range that extended over the forests, swamps, and coastal plains of the southern and eastern areas of the United States, as far west as Texas and as far north as New York. As with most non-domesticated canines, however, the Red Wolf was vilified as a dangerous competitor of man (and, erroneously, a "man-eater"). These entrenched, negative attitudes gave rise to aggressive predator control campaigns; wolves were poisoned, shot, and trapped. This persecution was compounded by habitat loss and disease, taking a terrible toll on red wolf populations. By 1980, the species was extinct in the wild.
Today, though, there is good news. Thanks to several focused preservation and reintroduction programs, and especially to the efforts of the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (PDZA) and the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), in conjunction with programs like that at MIll Mountain Zoo, the Red Wolf is staging a small, isolated recovery. There are now approximately 100 wolves living wild in eastern North Carolina and up to 250 individuals in zoo-based captive breeding programs.
