Red Wolf Woods
Back from the brink
Hidden in dappled shade, two bright eyes are looking at you. You stare back. Then their owner ducks and turns, loping easily over fallen logs to settle into the sunshine. Our red wolves aren’t just beautiful – they’re part of an award-winning program that has saved this iconic species from extinction.
Discover the Woods
Protecting Red Wolves
THE THREAT: By the 1970s, very few red wolves existed on the planet, due to ceaseless hunting. By the 1980s, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, in cooperation with USFWS, established a zoo-based breeding program using 14 wolves from the wild to restore the population.
TAKE ACTION: Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium joined with other zoos and agencies to save the red wolf, breeding and reintroducing them in the wild. There are now fewer than 20 wolves in the wild, and about 250 at zoos and other partner facilities participating in the Species Survival Plan. They still need our protection if they are to survive.