Red Wolf

Extinct (wild) Perhaps 300 alive

After the species was listed as Endangered in 1967, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) initiated a plan to capture as many genetically pure red wolves as possible. Capturing almost 400 animals, a team of researchers carefully removed any coyotes and hybrids, leaving just 14 breeding red wolves. In 1980, FWS declared the species extinct in the wild. The approximately 300 red wolves alive today are all descended from these few individuals.