My work with eastern coyotes began coincidentally. The forest behind my university has been allowed to re-wild, and I often walked through the trails (and off trail). One day in April, I noticed coyote prints in the mud. I started to track the prints, which months later, I discovered belonged to a female eastern coyote. I named her Togo.
My return from Tanzania left me with a strong sense of lacking when it came to the outdoors. I began to go out into the woods more often. In August, I found something interesting: huge canine tracks traveling with Togo, too large to belong to even a normal eastern coyote. I am a couple hundred miles from the red wolf recovery area on coastal North Carolina, but that is still a short enough distance for long-dispersing wolves or their genes to travel.I named the male canid Prosperity.
In October, I got a camera trap from my professor. For the first time, I got footage of Prosperity and Togo. My research into their behavior has expanded into studies of their scat, diet, kills, and vocalizations. DNA samples are the only way to truly investigate Prosperity and Togo's heritage, but I do not have the funding for such lab work and until then, keep on collecting behavioral and physical footage of the two.
Red wolves, another species of wolf, are critically endangered. As of December 2019, only 14 confirmed wild red wolves survive on Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina; the estimated population is probably fewer than 25 wolves. Although red wolves' greatest threat is humanity (gun shots and vehicles cause the most red wolf mortality), another threat has been eastern coyote expansion. Red wolves' smaller size than gray wolves makes them more likely to hybridize with eastern coyotes - which are larger than typical western coyotes- especially when their numbers are so small. This hybridization causes a lack of genetic value to the red wolf population. Programs have been put forth, such as coyote sterilization on the recovery area, but don't work 100%.
There have been no studies of the genetics of North Carolina canids outside of the periphery of ARNWR. I'm hoping to research this topic for my M.S. or PhD pursuit.
Click here to meet some of the animals I study along with Prosperity & Togo, and here for more information about them.
My return from Tanzania left me with a strong sense of lacking when it came to the outdoors. I began to go out into the woods more often. In August, I found something interesting: huge canine tracks traveling with Togo, too large to belong to even a normal eastern coyote. I am a couple hundred miles from the red wolf recovery area on coastal North Carolina, but that is still a short enough distance for long-dispersing wolves or their genes to travel.I named the male canid Prosperity.
In October, I got a camera trap from my professor. For the first time, I got footage of Prosperity and Togo. My research into their behavior has expanded into studies of their scat, diet, kills, and vocalizations. DNA samples are the only way to truly investigate Prosperity and Togo's heritage, but I do not have the funding for such lab work and until then, keep on collecting behavioral and physical footage of the two.
Red wolves, another species of wolf, are critically endangered. As of December 2019, only 14 confirmed wild red wolves survive on Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina; the estimated population is probably fewer than 25 wolves. Although red wolves' greatest threat is humanity (gun shots and vehicles cause the most red wolf mortality), another threat has been eastern coyote expansion. Red wolves' smaller size than gray wolves makes them more likely to hybridize with eastern coyotes - which are larger than typical western coyotes- especially when their numbers are so small. This hybridization causes a lack of genetic value to the red wolf population. Programs have been put forth, such as coyote sterilization on the recovery area, but don't work 100%.
There have been no studies of the genetics of North Carolina canids outside of the periphery of ARNWR. I'm hoping to research this topic for my M.S. or PhD pursuit.
Click here to meet some of the animals I study along with Prosperity & Togo, and here for more information about them.