Every winter, we catch all our red wolves, vaccinate them, thoroughly check them over, and draw blood. Sounds simple, but this rodeo takes careful coordination and an experienced team. We do this work in winter, as this is the time we transfer wolves among facilities, and the cool weather prevents overheating. 

The Reflection Riding catch team, led by Taylor Berry and our amazing vet team led by Dr. Chris Keller of Mountain Hospital for Animals, orchestrate catching each wolf, drawing blood, checking vitals, and administering vaccines. These are wild red wolves that must be carefully captured and monitored. We vaccinate each red Wolf for multiple diseases, including rabies, distemper, parvovirus, hepatitis, and parainfluenza. We draw blood for a heartworm check (we also treat all year with heartworm and flea/tick prevention), and we send extra blood to our bio-specimen bank at Arkansas State University for genetic and historical research. 

If we are transferring a wolf to another facility, this would be the time we prep the animal for transfer, completing all requested testing from the receiving facility. Ideally, we would load the wolf into a travel crate and complete the transfer after coordinating delivery with the receiving institution and the proper paperwork is in order. 

The red wolf is the most endangered canid in the world, with only 8 known in the wild at one wild recovery site in northeastern North Carolina, and 250 under human care at 44 facilities. As part of the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan since 1996, our work with this animal is critical to its survival. Reflection Riding has had 5 litters born on site with the hope of another litter this spring.  

Red wolves are apex predators that keep the ecological balance keeping our environment healthy. When our environment is healthy, we humans are healthy.