The red wolf became extinct in the wild in 1980. This did not mean that every red wolf had disappeared; instead, the last recognized wild animals were removed for a captive-breeding program after conservationists concluded that survival in the wild was no longer feasible.
Red wolves had declined across the southeastern and south-central United States because of predator-control campaigns, habitat loss, persecution, and hybridization with coyotes. By the late 1960s, only a small remnant population remained around coastal Louisiana and eastern Texas.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service captured more than 400 canids between 1973 and 1980. Only a small number were confirmed as pure red wolves, and fourteen ultimately formed the breeding stock. The species was declared extinct in the wild in 1980, then reintroduced in North Carolina beginning in 1987. This is why “extinct in the wild” differs from total extinction: captive animals still survived and later produced reintroduced populations.