America’s Wolf: How One Small Nature Center is Using Education to Change the Public’s Perception of Red Wolves

By Mary Miller

Farm Manager, Lollypop Farm, Humane Society of Greater Rochester

Deep in the forest within the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (LBL) lies a little nature center called the Woodlands Nature Station. Here, children and adults alike are immersed in native flora and fauna in the “Backyard.” The nature station is a sanctuary for native wildlife species that were orphaned, injured, or born in captivity and do not qualify for re-release.

Among the native wildlife species that call the Woodlands Nature Station home is the critically endangered red wolf (Canis rufus). With a current population of around 230 individuals in the world, the nature station houses two of those individuals. Declared extinct in the wild in 1980, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) began a reintroduction program at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina in 1987, which currently has 20-30 individuals. LBL was actually the first proposed release site for red wolves in the early 1980’s. Unfortunately, negative attitudes towards wolves were high at this time so the plan was canceled during the public opinion stage. The Woodlands Nature Station wanted to help change this negative attitude toward wolves, so they partnered with the USFWS and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP) to become a captive breeding facility for red wolves. Since 1991, the Woodlands Nature Station has welcomed four litters of the endangered red wolf.

As an environmental education center, the naturalists at the Woodlands Nature Station administer interactions with the public including school field trips, educational tours, birthday parties, and outreach programs. For younger children, they focus on what it means to be an endangered species. They want the children to learn about a predator’s role in the ecosystem and the unique adaptations they have for surviving in their environment.

For older school groups, they apply the word “endemic” and explain how unique the red wolf is to the southern forests. They want students to learn what it means for the wolves to be endemic and well-suited for their habitat. Children leave the facility understanding how the red wolves, as top predators, impact other wildlife and plant communities.

When it comes to interacting with high schoolers and adults, the naturalists focus on red wolves’ conservation story and their recovery from a population of just fourteen individuals. Red wolf conservation has been nothing but sheer innovation that biologists and animal care staff have had to do to save the species. Red wolves were the first species removed from the wild and then reintroduced. Biologists used helicopters in the tracking and capture of the wolves. Most importantly, biologists pioneered wild fostering, in which captive-born red wolf pups are placed with wild parents. This practice of wild fostering is now done with many species after the success of red wolf wild fostering. Wild fostering across species has a survival rate of 75%.

John Pollpeter, Lead Naturalist at the Woodlands Nature Station, has some advice for other environmental education facilities wanting to teach about conservation. He says to be bold. To adopt popular culture in your programming and be creative, especially in creating a catchy program title. The best promotion for red wolf conservation at his facility came about when their 13-year-old male red wolf Jasper had pups. These four pups, with the help of local wildlife amateur photographers, were able to show the positive attributes of family life in red wolves. It showed their caring nature, their dedication to the pack, and, most importantly, their happiness while being together. The Woodlands Nature Station used social media, videos, and enrichment to help tell their story. The creation of programs geared toward families with children during Fall Break brought more people to empathize with the red wolves. John Pollpeter states “Happily, this is the first batch of puppies I have worked with that I did not hear one negative comment about wolves. This was quite a shock when I realized that. Maybe progress is being made on an old ‘boogie man’ from children’s fairy tales.”

Want to incorporate your own red wolf lesson into a program?  Check out this cool scent activity that would be fun to try with your students!

Sources:

Phillips, Mike. “IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Canis Rufus.” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 10 Jan. 2018, www.iucnredlist.org/species/3747/163509841.

*Special thanks to John Pollpeter, Lead Naturalist at Woodlands Nature Center, for providing valuable information to include in this article.