Evaluating how management policies affect red wolf mortality and disappearance (1987-2020)

We analyzed data acquired from the USFWS Red Wolf Recovery Program (hereafter ‘Recovery Program’) on radio-marked (hereafter collared), monitored red wolves (i.e., within the NC recovery area). The Recovery Program data include the monitoring history for all collared and monitored adult red wolves released to the wild since the beginning of releases in 1987 to March 1, 2020; n=526. The Recovery Program survival dataset contains the following individual covariates employed in our analyses: endpoint (i.e., final wolf fate by cause of death or disappearance [lost-to-follow-up, LTF]), capture date (beginning of monitoring), and date of endpoint (end of monitoring). The dataset also provided data on sex and other individual covariates not used for our study and hence not described. For recovered wolf carcasses, cause of death was estimated by USFWS using standard methods following necropsy and radiography. Agency removal occurred when a red wolf was captured and removed permanently (lethally...