Mo Ganji: Red Wolf | Rotwolf | Canis rufus | No. 178/250 from work group 8/99

Mo Ganji turns his focus toward the red wolf — a medium-sized canid historically occupying forests, wetlands and coastal plains — by letting the single line move toward essence rather than lineage or myth. The line draws the being into a reduced coherence, suspending distinctions between wild, hybrid or symbol. In this reduction, the line remains open, acknowledging that what we call a species is also a conceptual frame imposed on a living continuum.

Canis rufus is listed as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List. Once widespread across the southeastern United States, the red wolf was driven to extinction in the wild by the late 20th century due to persecution and habitat loss. Reintroduction efforts in North Carolina established a small wild population, but numbers have since declined sharply. Today, the species survives primarily through captive breeding, with only a handful of individuals remaining in the wild.

The principal threats include human persecution, habitat fragmentation, vehicle collisions, and hybridization with coyotes, which complicates conservation and genetic integrity. Management efforts have been inconsistent, and political resistance has further undermined recovery. The red wolf’s future remains uncertain despite decades of intervention.

Ganji’s single line opens a space in which the wolf can be encountered beyond fear, purity or controversy. It allows attention to rest on a life suspended between survival and definition, suggesting how easily a being can be lost not only through eradication, but through the inability to agree on what it is allowed to be.