Road mortality mitigation for red wolves requires a landscape approach

In 1980, the red wolf Canis rufus was declared extinct in the wild. However, starting in 1987, a captive breeding program allowed for a reintroduction effort in and around Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (Alligator River NWR), North Carolina, USA. In 2012 the wild red wolf population peaked at about 120 individuals. After no new individuals were released from 2010 through 2019, a decline set in, with only an estimated 17–20 individuals remaining in 2021. We explored temporal and spatial patterns in red wolf mortality to formulate recommendations for reducing road mortality. Of all reported mortalities between 1987 and 2022, gunshot (25.90%) and vehicle strike (19.32%) were the most frequently reported known causes of death. For the red wolf population to become independent of intensive management, both sources of unnatural mortality need to be addressed. Mitigating US Highway 64 through Alligator River NWR for road mortality is an immediate priority for red wolf conservation as it would help protect the last remaining wild breeding pair and their offspring (situation 2022–2023). It would also address 24.36% of the overall historic red wolf road mortality in the area. In addition, mitigating this road section is relatively efficient as this is where the highest number of red wolf road mortalities can be addressed for the shortest mitigated road length. However, to help recover the population in the wider area, low volume roads also need to be mitigated as most of the historic road mortalities (92.31%) occurred on road sections, including certain sections of US Highway 64, with only 101–5000 vehicles per day. In addition, many of the historic red wolf birth location concentrations are close to low volume roads. Therefore, this study illustrates that effective conservation for the red wolf requires a landscape approach to mitigation that includes both high and low volume roads.