10 of the Most Endangered Animals in the United States-Part 1

Red wolf

Though extinct in the wild by 1980, US Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduced the red wolf to North Carolina seven years later. Red wolves— distinguished by the reddish fur behind their ears and around their necks and legs— were native to North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas until becoming extinct in the wild in 1980.

In 1987, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service brought back the species in an area spanning the Albermarle and Pamlico Sounds into eastern North Carolina. Red wolves weigh an average of 45 to 80 pounds in maturity and stand 26 inches at the shoulder. The red wolf is officially classified by the IUCN as having been critically endangered.