The Pacolet Area Conservancy (PAC) and Walnut Creek Preserve (WCP) invite the public to attend a free presentation on “North Carolina’s Red Wolves: An Imperiled Future,” presented by Christian Hunt with Defenders of Wildlife. 

The program will be held at the Anne Elizabeth Suratt Nature Center at Walnut Creek Preserve on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 10:30 a.m.

The Red Wolf (Canis rufus) is a smaller and a more slender cousin of the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus). It is gray-black, with a reddish cast that gives it the color for which it is named.  Historically, Red Wolves ranged throughout the southeastern U.S., from Pennsylvania to Florida, and as far west as Texas. Almost hunted to the brink of extinction, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rounded up fewer than 20 Red Wolves to be bred in captivity in 1980.

As of 2007, approximately 207 captive Red Wolves reside at 38 captive breeding facilities across the United States; however, fewer than 45 Red Wolves currently live in the wild.

Today, wild populations roam more than 1.7 million acres throughout northeastern North Carolina.

Christian will be discussing the history, biology, threats, political atmosphere, and benefits that the Red Wolf brings to our ecosystem.

To get to Walnut Creek Preserve’s Nature Center from the Tryon and Columbus area, take Hwy. 108 East and turn left on Hwy. 9 toward Lake Lure. Follow Hwy. 9 North for five miles and turn right onto McGuinn Road (at the Exxon Station). Go one mile to the intersection with Big Level Road; turn left, go 2/10ths of a mile and take the first right onto Aden Green Road. Follow Aden Green for 4/10ths of a mile and turn left on Wood Thrush Lane and into Walnut Creek Preserve. Take the first left onto Conservatory Lane, which takes you to the parking area for the nature center. (GPS coordinates to the Nature Center are available at the PAC website.) 

For more information or directions from another location, contact the Pacolet Area Conservancy at 828-859-5060 or e-mail landprotection@pacolet.org.

The next PAC/WCP program will be held on March 25. Annie Martin, popularly known as “Mossin’ Annie,” will present “Moss Magic in your Landscape.” There is an optional invitation to attend a moss gardening workshop afterward, but registration is mandatory.

For more information about Walnut Creek Preserve, visit walnutcreekpreserve.com. Walnut Creek Preserve is private property and guests are only allowed on the property by invitation (a planned event or scheduled group). 

– article submitted by Pam Torlina