THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, April 14, 1995                 TAG: 9504140446
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: BY JOYA MCTILLMON, ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: RALEIGH                            LENGTH: Short :   49 lines

U.S. EASES RULES ON KILLING RED WOLVES THE REGULATION NOW IS MORE IN LINE WITH NORTH CAROLINA LAW.

Landowners can shoot red wolves caught killing livestock or pets on private land after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday revised its rules regarding the endangered species.

The revision of the agency's program to reintroduce endangered red wolves to North Carolina and Tennessee brings federal rules closer to a North Carolina law passed last year that allows landowners to shoot wolves threatening their property.

``I think it's an expression of what we have learned about wolves and about reintroductions from our experience around the country,'' Mollie Beattie, director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said from Washington.

The rule continues to prohibit intentional and willful taking of red wolves on private lands. It requires that freshly wounded or killed livestock or pets be evident. The rule also allows landowners to harass - without hurting - red wolves to drive them away.

H.W. ``Butch'' Raynor III, a spokesman for the anti-wolf group Citizens Rights Over Wolves, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday.

In North Carolina, red wolves have been released in a five-county area during the past 7 1/2 years. The program's success was partly responsible for the rule revision, Beattie said.

``As the wolf population increases, we don't have to be so protective of every wolf,'' she said.

The legislature passed the law allowing Hyde and Washington County landowners to shoot wolves after residents complained that the wolves kill other animals and restrict use of property.

Beattie said her agency maintains its position that the wolves are much less dangerous to livestock and pets than opponents of the wolf program claim.

Out of 31 complaints filed during the entire 7 1/2-year life of the reintroduction program, investigators found that red wolves were not involved at all in 15 cases. Of the remaining 16, only three were reported cases of wolves preying on livestock and only one could be confirmed, the service said. by CNB