The rarest of the family wolf, red wolf once inhabited most of eastern United States, from Pennsylvania to Texas. However, in the XX century. from extinction, habitat destruction and hybridization with coyotes, red wolves were on the verge of extinction. Their first range was reduced to extreme southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas, and by the end of the 70-ies of the XX century. red wolves in nature completely disappeared, and only preserved specimens in zoos and kennels. Since 1988, the work on the return of red wolves into the wild - in the mountains of the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee.