The parents of this 7-week-old red wolf pup keep an eye on their offspring at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, N.C. (Gerry Broome/AP)

Over the federal government’s 30-year effort to revive endangered red wolves in North Carolina, there have been many attempts by opponents to get rid of them. But to argue that the wolves engaged in so much sex with coyotes that the two species somehow became one? That was a novel approach.

It is a good argument if you can prove it. Red wolves are a rare and dying breed that actually went extinct in the wild before a few were set free again after being bred in zoos. Coyotes are plentiful, and unlike the larger wolves, they are ineligible for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Last year, North Carolina officials and landowners opposed to…