photo #456952

The American red wolf is an apex predator that once roamed the southeastern United States. Apex predators are key to a healthy ecosystem, as they balance the populations of plants and animals down the food chain who maintain the stability of a habitat. Hunting and the loss of habitat led to the dramatic decrease of the red wolf population, with less than 20 remaining in the wild today. Without red wolves, prey populations like deer balloon and overgraze to the point of habitat depletion, which has contributed to major ecological changes in parts of the southeastern U.S.