Established, free-ranging populations of wolves do not currently exist in North Texas. The modern ecosystem is not home to breeding packs of either the Gray Wolf or the Red Wolf. This is a significant change from the historical landscape, where two distinct species of wolves once occupied different parts of the state. The question persists today due to this historical memory and the frequent misidentification of a much more common wild canine.
Current Gray Wolf Presence in North Texas
The Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) once spanned the western two-thirds of the state, but today, it is considered extirpated, meaning it is locally extinct in Texas. The specific subspecies historically found in the region was the Mexican Gray Wolf (Canis lupus baileyi), a smaller form of the Gray Wolf. These large predators once preyed on deer and bison, playing a role in the natural balance of Texas ecosystems.
Systematic eradication efforts, driven by predator control programs aimed at protecting livestock, led to the complete removal of the Gray Wolf from Texas by the mid-20th century. The last confirmed wild Gray Wolves were killed in the Trans-Pecos region of far West Texas in 1970, an area hundreds of miles from North Texas. Any Gray Wolf sighting in the state today would be an extremely rare, transient individual that has wandered far from established recovery zones in New Mexico or Mexico.
These transient individuals are typically solitary young males dispersing over hundreds of miles in search of new territory. They do not represent a functioning pack or a stable population. While a single wolf might cross into the Texas borderlands, the probability of one reaching the developed, central areas of North Texas is negligible.
The Extirpation of Native Red Wolves
The Red Wolf (Canis rufus) holds a closer historical connection to the eastern half of Texas, including the areas that encompass North Texas. This species is physically smaller than the Gray Wolf, historically weighing between 30 and 60 pounds. Its range included the coastal prairies and forests of the southeastern United States.
The Red Wolf was driven to extirpation in the wild from Texas and Louisiana through a combination of factors. Habitat destruction, widespread hunting, and hybridization with the rapidly expanding coyote population led to the species’ functional extinction in the wild. By the late 1970s, the remaining individuals were captured to establish a captive breeding program, as pure Red Wolves could no longer be found in the wild.
This intensive conservation effort saved the species from total collapse, but reintroduction efforts have been limited to a single site in North Carolina. Genetic remnants of the Red Wolf persist in the state today, particularly in wild canids found on Galveston Island. These animals, which look like coyotes, possess significant amounts of Red Wolf DNA, suggesting the genetic material was absorbed into the coyote population. These findings are geographically confined to the coastal region and do not indicate a Red Wolf presence in North Texas.
Identifying Texas Canids
The true wild canine of North Texas, and the source of nearly all “wolf” sightings, is the coyote (Canis latrans). Coyotes are widespread and highly adaptable, thriving in urban, suburban, and rural environments across the region.
Coyotes are considerably smaller and more slender than either the historical Red or Gray Wolves, typically weighing 20 to 50 pounds, with a shoulder height of about 20 inches. A large Gray Wolf, in contrast, can weigh up to 150 pounds. Furthermore, the coyote possesses a narrow, pointed muzzle and proportionally larger, more pointed ears that stand upright.
A wolf’s head is blockier, with a broader snout and rounder ears. Another subtle but telling difference is the tail carriage: a coyote usually holds its bushy, black-tipped tail downward between its legs when running, while a wolf carries its tail horizontally. Any large, dog-like canid observed in North Texas is overwhelmingly likely to be a coyote or a coyote-domestic dog hybrid.