Which zoo established the red wolf captive-bred founder population from 1974 to 1980?

Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium established the red wolf captive-bred founder population from 1974 to 1980.

The red wolf had been pushed toward extinction by predator-control campaigns, habitat loss, and interbreeding with coyotes. By the late 1960s, only scattered animals remained in coastal Louisiana and southeastern Texas. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began a careful capture and screening program to identify animals that appeared to be pure red wolves.

About 400 canids were captured between 1973 and 1980, but only 43 were initially judged suitable for the breeding effort. Further testing and pedigree review reduced that number to 17 pure red wolves; three could not reproduce, leaving 14 founders. Point Defiance, in Tacoma, Washington, housed and bred these animals, producing its first captive litter in May 1977.

A common mix-up is confusing the zoo with the later release sites. Point Defiance was the genetic and breeding center; Bulls Island in South Carolina hosted an experimental relocation in 1978, and North Carolina became the main reintroduction landscape from 1987 onward.