Howling for Habitat Sponsorship: Announcing the Matthews Auto Group Red Wolf Preserve
The Friends of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo welcomes Matthews Auto Group to our zoo family as our newest habitat sponsor! The family-owned business has generously offered their support by sponsoring the Matthews Auto Group Red Wolf Preserve at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Matthews Auto Group’s partnership enables the Friends of the Zoo to continue our missions of supporting excellent care for the animals here at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo and supporting conservation of species in the wild. New signage announcing Matthews Auto Group’s decade of habitat sponsorship is now on view.
Currently, the Rosamond Gifford Zoo is home to two red wolves, female Evie and male Sage. Sage, a four-year-old from North Carolina, recently arrived to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo to join Evie at the Matthews Auto Group Red Wolf Preserve. As an institution accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the Rosamond Gifford Zoo contributes to the preservation of the species, which is why we are a proud participant in the Species Survival Plan (SSP) for red wolves. An SSP is a collaborative program designed to coordinate healthy breeding and management of a certain species. By carefully tracking the genetics and demographics of red wolves who live in human care at AZA zoos, SSP coordinators make breeding recommendations that will result in a sustainable, genetically diverse population.
Our participation in this vital SSP is one exciting example of the wildlife conservation efforts that go on at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo every day. Prior to the 1960s, red wolves were native throughout the southeastern region the United States, but today, their habitat has been drastically reduced to northeastern North Carolina. Red wolves are now the most endangered species of canine on the planet. As defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), red wolves are critically endangered, meaning that the species is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. Currently, the number of red wolves in the wild is fewer than 30 individuals, mostly due to illegal poaching and habitat destruction. With their brownish-reddish coloring, broad muzzles, and pointed ears, red wolves look remarkably similar to coyotes, meaning that they are often mistaken for the species and hunted despite being protected by the Endangered Species Act of 1967.
Matthews Auto Group opted to sponsor the red wolf habitat specifically due to the extreme danger of extinction that the species faces and the Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s specialized efforts to conserve the species. “Animals are a love of Matthews Auto Group,” says Kathy Breno, Marketing Director of Matthews Auto Group. “When we heard about this opportunity, we reached out to [the Friends of the Zoo] because we wanted to make that connection. We really loved the story of the red wolf because of their critically endangered status, so we are here to offer our support.”
As a community-minded organization, Matthews Auto Group partnered with the Friends of the Zoo to join us in our pursuit of protecting the natural world. “It is the beginning of a lovely and long-term relationship [with the Friends of the Zoo],” Breno notes. “If there’s something we can do to help such a beautiful and critically endangered species, then we want to make a difference. That’s what Matthews Auto is about— making a difference for the communities we serve.” The Friends of the Zoo is excited to forge a partnership with someone who shares our goal of making the world a better place through wildlife conservation and education. We look forward to growing this strong partnership with Matthews Auto Group together.
On the subject of strong partnerships, our entire zoo community is looking forward to the potential partnership that might eventually grow between Evie and Sage. The resulting offspring from the red wolf SSP might be viable candidates for reintroduction to the wild through US Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) intervention program. Reintroduction is the ultimate goal to help sustain the species, but the process takes an incredible amount of planning and logistics to manage. In fact, USFWS’s regulations demand specialized treatment for red wolves under human care, to which Rosamond Gifford Zoo carefully adheres. Nearly every other animal who lives at Rosamond Gifford Zoo receives regular training and opportunities to build trust with keepers, but Evie and Sage do not. We aim to help them preserve their ingrained wild instincts as much as possible so that they will impart their wildness to their litter of pups. According to Ted Fox, Executive Director of Rosamond Gifford Zoo, “We want [our red wolves] to be wary of people, to act like wolves. They have virtually no relationship with the keepers. A critical part of successful reintroduction is having them be wild.” The Rosamond Gifford Zoo is ecstatic to welcome Sage. In the future, he and Evie could very well be parents or grandparents to the red wolves who are released into the wild for repopulation.
As part of the overall commitment to wildlife conservation and animal wellbeing, Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s habitats are designed to provide animals with the proper amount of space, terrain, elevation, and other environmental features of their wild habitats, thereby encouraging the animals to behave as they would in the wild. A natural habitat helps facilitate breeding by providing animals the safety and security they need to engage in such behaviors. “That’s a reason why the red wolves are placed in the zoo where they are. There’s not as much traffic. It’s distanced from the public walkways,” describes Fox. “Their den has no viewing window. We actively try to provide them a space where they feel more secure, safe, and a bit wild so they teach their pups to feel the same.”
Come visit the Matthews Auto Group Red Wolf Preserve at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, located on our wildlife trail between the Asian Elephants habitat and Amur tiger habitat. Please note that privacy is a key component to red wolf wellbeing, especially since Rosamond Gifford Zoo makes every effort to keep these creatures as wild as possible. Evie and Sage can sometimes be difficult to spot immediately, but don’t get discouraged. Winter is typically the best time to catch a glimpse of them, so be ready with your cameras when you stop by this beautiful, newly sponsored habitat!
Interested in sponsoring a habitat of your own? To learn more about habitat sponsorship options, please contact Director of Development, Heidi Strong, ([email protected] or 315-435-8511 x8526) or Director of Philanthropy, Gina Rapasadi ([email protected] or 315-435-8511 x8534.)
To learn more about Matthews Auto Group, visit https://www.matthewsauto.com/.
