MISSION OF THE MONTH

Red wolf flies from New York to new home in Maryland

In December, a LightHawk volunteer pilot transported an adult female red wolf from the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, NY to the Salisbury Zoo in Salisbury, MD.

The Red Wolf (Canis rufus) is a critically endangered species that once inhabited the eastern half of the US from Texas to New York.

As of August 2023, their total estimated population in the wild was just 23-25 individuals residing in North Carolina. In 2018, the Red Wolf was named one of the Association of Zoo and Aquarium's (AZA) SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) species. One goal of this program is to support the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Red Wolf Recovery Plan by maintaining a healthy and viable population of Red Wolves in captivity. Captive breeding is an essential component of Red Wolf recovery. As of February 2023, there were approximately 235 red wolves in 49 Red Wolf SAFE facilities across the country.

LightHawk In The News

Photo of the Month

This month's photo of the month is of Fisher Towers above Fisher Valley Century Ranch. The photo was taken during a flight with conservation partner Utah Open Lands, a statewide land trust whose mission is to preserve, protect and steward open space in order to maintain Utah's natural heritage and quality of life for present and future generations. UOL has protected and now is in charge of preserving over 64,000 acres throughout the state of Utah. As an accredited land trust, UOL is responsible for monitoring each of the properties they have conserved on an annual basis. The purpose of this flight was to allow UOL volunteers to monitor one of these large properties consisting of six parcels along the Colorado River east of Moab, Utah. Imagery captured during this flight will also allow UOL stewardship staff to make management decisions, create management plans for the property, and further their mission to protect the lands that we all love in an effective way.