COLUMBIA, N.C. (WNCT) -- The Federal Highway Administration has given North Carolina a $25 million grant to build wildlife crossings, specifically to help save endangered red wolves. This is the second-largest grant ever issued from the FHWA and the first given to the Southeast region. A total of 16 red wolves are left in the wild and vehicle crashes have been the leading cause of death for the animals. Toll rates increasing in cost on North Carolina expressways in 2025 "Eastern North Carolina is the only place in the world where red wolves exist in the wild and it's been a successful program for decades," Southeast Director at the Center for Biological Diversity Will Harlan said. "There were as many as 120 wolves out on the landscape just a decade ago. But, then gunshot mortality and then most recently, vehicle strikes, have decimated their populations.” The grant was awarded to put 13 underpasses beneath Highway 64, a tourist road leading to the Outer Banks. “This is where nearly all of the red wolves have been hit in recent years. But, if we can build wildlife underpasses beneath this dangerous, deadly stretch of highway, we can allow red wolves and other wildlife, including bears and river otters and bobcats to move safely underneath this road and through this really important refuge,” Harlan said. The Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina has also named the remaining red wolves in the wild. "So, naming those wolves, giving them names was a very hopeful maneuver between our partnership and collaboration with all of, you know, all of those people already working hand over face, you know, doing all of the advertising, doing all the fundraising, doing all of the educational outreach to the general public, to lawmakers all across North Carolina, the national agenda of pushing for that grant," Citizen of the Beaver Family in the Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina Rahna-Wake-W said. North Carolina Museum Of History Shop closing Sunday as part of $180 million upgrade for museum Harlan said lifting the highway is beneficial, not just for wildlife, but for many other reasons. “People will benefit, too. That's the other really important part. This is a stretch of highway that has a lot of wildlife," he said. "Vehicle collisions in North Carolina, as a state, is one of the top in the country in terms of number of wildlife vehicle crashes.”  Both said the plans for renovations are underway and they hope to start construction this year.