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A28 SCIENCE
Friday 27 december 2019

This combination of images provided by Amanda Daley shows
mockups of a soft drink can and a chocolate candy bar with
labels for "exercise calories," or the amount of physical activity
needed to burn them off.
Associated Press

What if you knew a

cookie would take 20 In a Monday, May 13, 2019 file photo, a pair of red wolves huddle at the Museum of Life and Sci-
ence in Durham, N.C. In a Monday, May 13, 2019 file photo, a pair of red wolves huddle at the
minutes to run off? Museum of Life and Science in Durham, N.C. Associated Press

By CANDICE CHOI of walking or 22 minutes of Red wolves court battle reignites
AP Food & Health Writer running.
NEW YORK (AP) — Would With calorie counts, ex- as governor urges action
you put down that bag of perts worry the information
chips if you saw it had 170 doesn't mean much if peo- By JONATHAN DREW level. This population de- to promote breeding, ac-
calories? What if the label ple don't know how much
said it would take 16 min- they should be eating any- RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The cline has occurred despite cording to the Center for
fight over the critically the availability of proven Biological Diversity and De-
utes of running to burn off way.
those calories? And with the "traffic light" endangered red wolf has conservation strategies, fenders of Wildlife, which
returned to court as North such as coyote sterilization had staff members attend-
Health experts for years system, people might not
have pushed for clearer understand why a food is Carolina's governor sought and captive wolf reintro- ing. A third wolf, a male, will
immediate help for the doz-
be moved within the North
ductions."
food labeling to empower red — is it the fat, the sugar
people to make better or something else? en or so remaining in the The letter follows a lawsuit Carolina recovery area
wild and federal biologists filed earlier this year by the to pair with a female, the
choices. In the U.S., a re- It's no surprise some people
cent regulation requires don't pay attention to cur- planned to transfer wolves Center for Biological Diver- groups said.
into the recovery area for sity asking a judge to force The Fish and Wildlife Service
calorie counts on packag- rent labels, but exercise
es to be bigger. Red, yel- calories might be more the first time in years. the Fish and Wildlife Service didn't respond to email and
In late November, Gov. to commit to a deadline for phone messages asking
low and green labels signal useful, said Amanda Dal-
the healthfulness of some ey, a professor of behav- Roy Cooper sent the secre- a new recovery plan and questions about the wolf
tary of the interior a sharp-
another by the Southern pairing and other aspects
foods in the United King- ioral medicine at Lough-
dom. But with obesity rates borough University in the ly worded letter warning Environmental Law Center of the recovery.
Moving the wolves from
that, with no more than 14 seeking documents per-
persistently high, research- United Kingdom,
ers are looking at whether "They may still ignore it, but known wolves in the wild, taining to red wolf deci- Florida could help diversify
"the American red wolf is sion-making.
the wild gene pool in North
more drastic approaches let's give it a go. Let's at
could help. least give them a chance on the brink of extinction." The Fish and Wildlife Ser- Carolina, but much more
He noted that in 2019, no vice issued a statement in recovery work is needed,
One attention-grabbing to be able to easily under-
idea being explored: La- stand," she said. litters of red wolf pups were November saying it plans said Heather Clarkson, the
born in the wild for the first to begin updating the re-
Defenders' Southeast out-
beling foods with "exercise Not everyone finds the idea
calories," or the amount of compelling. Regardless of time in the history of the re- covery plan in 2020 by ap- reach representative.
pointing a panel of scien-
"These ... pairs are great,
introduction program.
physical activity needed to whether it gets people to
burn them off. For exam- eat less, it could reinforce Red wolves once occupied tists to advise them on the but they're just not enough,"
she said in an interview.
much of the Eastern U.S. process.
ple, a chocolate bar might negative attitudes about
say it has 230 calories, exercise, said Yoni Freed- but were driven to near ex- "Although an updated re- Conservation groups say
tinction by trapping, hunt-
covery plan is not yet in the red wolf population
alongside icons indicating hoff, an obesity expert at ing and habitat loss before place, the Service has en- has declined sharply as the
that amounts to 42 minutes the University of Ottawa.q
they were reintroduced to gaged in recovery efforts government abandoned
North Carolina in 1987. Their and continues to do so," proven recovery methods.
range is limited to five North the statement said. After red wolves were rein-
Carolina counties. Another Fish and Wildlife Service troduced to North Carolina,
200 live in captive breeding Field Supervisor Pete Ben- the wild population grew
programs. jamin said at a Dec. 10 beyond 100 and remained
Cooper wrote in the Nov. meeting with community stable through 2012. Wolf
22 letter that "changes in members in eastern North numbers were bolstered
management strategies Carolina that its biolo- by releases of captive-born
over the last several years gists planned to move two pups and sterilization of
have diminished the wild wolves into the recovery coyotes that competed for
population to a dangerous area from a Florida refuge space. q