Feds abandon plan to shrink habitat of rare red wolves

Federal wildlife officials overseeing the world’s only wild population of endangered red wolves announced they are abandoning a 2018 plan to limit the animals’ territory and loosen protections for wolves that strayed from that area in eastern North Carolina. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made the announcement Wednesday as part of an ongoing federal court battle with conservation groups that argue the federal agency violated the Endangered Species Act by abandoning strategies that supported the wild population of wolves. Conservation groups welcomed the move but said more needs to be done to support a wild population of as few as 10 wolves.