U.S. to release more endangered red wolves into the wild,

The U.S. government will settle a lawsuit with conservation groups and commit to releasing more endangered red wolves into the wilds of North Carolina, where nearly three dozen of the canine species are believed to still run free.

The conservation groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2020 after it stopped releasing captive-bred wolves. Eastern

North Carolina is the only place in the world where they roam wild outside of zoos and wildlife refuges.

The Southern Environmental Law Center filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Red Wolf Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife and the Animal Welfare Institute. A settlement agreement was reached Wednesday, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in North Carolina.

“For 25 years, North Carolina was home to one of the most successful predator reintroductions in the world," Ramona McGee, a Southern Environmental Law Center attorney, said in a statement. “This settlement puts us on a path to restoring the red wolf to its rightful place as a celebrated success story.”

Red wolves once occupied much of the Eastern U.S. but were driven to near extinction by trapping, hunting and habitat loss before they were reintroduced to North Carolina in 1987. Their range is limited to five North Carolina counties. Scientists at zoos and other sites have maintained a captive population of nearly 300 wolves in recent years.

After red wolves were reintroduced, the state's wild population grew beyond 100 and remained stable through 2012.

Wolf numbers were bolstered by releases of captive-born pups and sterilization of coyotes that competed for space. But those approaches were halted in 2015 amid pressure from conservative politicians and landowners who deemed wolves a nuisance.

Red wolves are in an area dominated by farms and private land. At least 96 red wolves died of gunshot wounds over the decades.