 |
| Endangered Species Updates |
| November 13, 2006 |
| MEXICAN WOLF REINTRODUCTION PROJECT NEWS. Monthly Status Report: October 1 – 31, 2006 |
| The following is a summary of Mexican wolf reintroduction project activities in Arizona on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests (ASNF) and in New Mexico on the Gila National Forest (GNF), collectively known as the Blue Range Wolf Reintroduction Area (BRWRA). Additional information can be obtained by calling (928) 339-4329 or toll free at 1-888-459-9653, or by visiting the Arizona Game and Fish Department Web site at http://www.azgfd.gov/wolf or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Web site at http://mexicanwolf.fws.gov. Past updates may also be viewed on either Web site, or interested parties may sign up to receive this update electronically by visiting http://www.azgfd.gov/signup. This update is a public document and information in it can be used for any purpose. The reintroduction project is a multi-agency cooperative effort among the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD), New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF), USDA Forest Service (USFS), USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services (USDA-WS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the White Mountain Apache Tribe (WMAT) located on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation (FAIR). Other entities cooperate through the Adaptive Management Work Group that meets quarterly in Arizona and/or New Mexico, including private individuals, organizations and tribes.To view the wolf distribution map, which contains the most recent three months of wolf aerial locations, please visit http://www.azgfd.gov/wolf. Under “Mexican Wolf Conservation and Management,” scroll down to the links under “Distribution.”Please report any wolf sightings or suspected livestock depredations to: (928) 339-4329 or toll free at 1-888-459-9653. To report incidents of take or harassment of wolves, please call the AGFD’s 24-hour dispatch (Operation Game Thief) at 1-800-352-0700.Numbering System: Mexican wolves are given an identification number recorded in an official studbook that tracks the history of all known Mexican wolves. Capital letters (M = Male, F = Female) preceding the number indicate adult animals 18 months or older. Lower case letters (m = male, f = female) indicate wolves younger than 18 months or pups. The capital letter “A” preceding the letter and number indicate alpha wolves.Definitions: For the purposes of the Monthly Update, a “wolf pack” is defined as two or more wolves that maintain an established home range. The Interagency Field Team (IFT) recognizes that wolves without radio telemetry collars sometimes form packs. If the IFT confirms that wolves are associating with each other and are reasonably resident within the same home range, they will be referenced as a pack.CURRENT POPULATION STATUSAs of the end of October, the collared population consisted of 28* wolves with functional radio collars dispersed among nine packs and four single wolves.* See the Bluestem, Hawks Nest and Rim packs, single M973 and M1044 on the FAIR, Arizona, below for more detailed information.SEASONAL NEWS
The IFT has confirmed wild born pups in the Bluestem, Rim and San Mateo packs in Arizona; in the Aspen, Luna and Saddle packs in New Mexico; and suspect pups with the Middle Fork pack in New Mexico. IN ARIZONA: Bluestem Pack (collared AF521, M990, m991, m1041 and f1042) Hawks Nest Pack (collared AM619 and AF486 with a non-functional collar) Meridian Pack (collared AM806 and f1028) On the October 11 and 16 telemetry flights, the IFT located AM806 near the town of Luna, New Mexico, 17 miles northeast of its release site in Arizona. The IFT observed AM806 alone the following day and hazed it from the area. AM806 remained in the Luna area until October 17. On October 19, the IFT visually confirmed f1028 alone in the area of the Meridian pack release site in Arizona; however, on October 24, the IFT observed AM806 back in Arizona with f1028. On October 25, the IFT captured both AM806 and f1028, fitting f1028 with a radio collar and replacing the radio collar on AM806. On October 29, the IFT observed both AM806 and f1028 together in the vicinity of their release site near Middle Mountain. Rim Pack (collared AF858, AM992 and m1043) San Mateo Pack (collared AF903, m927 and AM796 with a non-functional collar) M973 (collared) FAIR: M1044 (collared) IN NEW MEXICO: Aspen Pack (collared AF667, m1038, m1039, f1040 and uncollared AM512) Luna Pack (collared AM583, m925 and uncollared AF562) Middle Fork Pack (collared AF861 and AM871) Saddle Pack (collared AF797, AM732 and m1007) M859 (collared) f923 (collared) f924 (collared) INCIDENTS On September 30, the IFT investigated a cow carcass in Catron County, New Mexico. The IFT investigation determined the kill to be a possible wolf depredation, but there were no wolves with radio collars in the area or any wolf sign discovered. On October 11, the IFT investigated a dead horse in Apache County, Arizona. The IFT investigation determined that the horse died from a lightening strike. CAPTIVE MANAGEMENT On October 25, Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility personnel moved m1019 from the management facility at Sevilleta to the Rio Grande Zoo vet clinic for further veterinary care. COMMUNICATION AND COORDINATION On October 6, Shawna Nelson, in cooperation with USFS personnel, provided four informal presentations to 84 first grade students from Coronado Elementary School in St. Johns as part of their annual field trip to Alpine, Arizona. On October 6, Saleen Richter gave a presentation to 45 people at the “Natural History of the Gila: A Southwestern New Mexico Symposium” conference at Western New Mexico University in Silver City, New Mexico. On October 14, Maggie Dwire gave a presentation to 50 people at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge open house in New Mexico. On October 11, Shawna Nelson and Shawn Farry provided a presentation to 16 community members of Greer, Arizona. On October 11, Dan Groebner provided a presentation on the history of wolves in Arizona to 250 third grade students from Show Low Elementary School at the Show Low Historical Museum. On October 14, Shawn Farry and John Oakleaf provided a presentation and led a field trip for 20 ASU and UofA students near Alpine, Arizona. On October 14 and 15, Shawna Nelson, Krista Beazley and Dan Groebner worked an information booth for the Woodland Wild Country Expo in Pinetop, Arizona. Approximately 400 people attended this inaugural wildlife event. On October 20, the Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG) held a meeting in Clifton, Arizona. Agenda topics included translocations and new releases of Mexican wolves in 2006, depredation and wolf management activities and the 5-Year Review of the reintroduction project: the Adaptive Management Oversight Committee’s approach to acting on the 37 recommendations from the 5-Year Review. On October 21, Melissa Woolf gave an educational presentation at the Living Desert State Park in Carlsbad, New Mexico. On October 21, Laura Kelly provided a telemetry demonstration to 120 people at the California Wolf Center as part of Wolf Awareness Week in Julian, California. On October 27, Shawna Nelson provided a presentation for 14 participants of Wild by Nature, a wildlife watching field trip, and National Park Service personnel in the Gila Wilderness, New Mexico. The following day, she provided a telemetry demonstration and assisted participants in locating and identifying animal tracks. PROJECT PERSONNEL Nicole Heywood left the Mexican Wolf Blue Range Reintroduction Project October 20. Brynn Nelson, a USFWS volunteer, left the Mexican Wolf Blue Range Reintroduction Project October 31. REWARDS OFFERED The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a reward of up to $10,000 and the Arizona Game and Fish Department Operation Game Thief is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the conviction of the individual(s) responsible for the shooting deaths of Mexican gray wolves. A variety of public interest groups are offering an additional $35,000, for a total reward amount of up to $46,000, depending on the information provided. Individuals with information they believe may be helpful are urged to call one of the following agencies: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agents in Mesa, AZ, at (480) 967-7900, in Alpine, AZ, at (928) 339-4232, or in Albuquerque, NM, at (505) 346-7828; the White Mountain Apache Tribe at (928) 338-1023 or (928) 338-4385; Arizona Game and Fish Department Operation Game Thief at 1-800-352-0700; or New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Operation Game Thief at 1-800-432-4263. Killing a Mexican wolf is a violation of the Federal Endangered Species Act, and can result in criminal penalties of up to $50,000 and/or not more than one year in jail, and/or a civil penalty of up to $25,000. |
Mexican wolf restoration update for October
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People traveling to New Mexico would enjoy a visit to the headquarters of the Sevilleta NWR south of Albuquerque. The 220,000-acre refuge — set aside specifically for ecological research — also has the central captive breeding facility for Mexican gray wolves. There’s a fine mounted specimen inside the visitor center. The refuge staffer I talked with there a few weeks ago was very helpful in answering questions. Also noteworthy: David E. Brown’s “The Wolf in the Southwest: The Making of an Endangered Species” is back in print (High Lonesome Books, Silver City, N.M.). I purchased a copy at Bosque del Apache NWR in N.M. for 15 bucks.
The Sevilleta NWR is one of three “pre-release” facilities for the Mexican wolf. The other two are Ted Turner’s Ladder Ranch, still farther south in New Mexico near the little town of Hillsboro, and Wolf Haven, in Tenino, WA.
I would reserve the title of “central captive breeding facility” for Mexican wolves for the Wild Canid Survival and Research Center, in Eureka, MO–not far from St. Louis. The very first captive conceived litter following the capture of a handful of lobos in Mexico in the late 1970’s was born at Wild Canid in 1981. Since then, the facility has bred more Mexican gray wolves than any other facility in the captive breeding program.
Every single Mexican wolf now in the wild in NM and AZ traces at least a part of its ancestry to WCSRC (or Wild Canid, as it it known in the recovery program). Those interested in checking on this remarkable facility, which also breeds other endangered canids including red wolves, South American maned wolves, swift foxes, and African wild dogs, may do so by going to the following site:
http://www.wolfsanctuary.org
The web site is not updated very often, partly, I suspect, because the folks at Wild Canid are so busy with all their charges! In addition to breeding lobos the “ordinary way,” Wild Canid has been a pioneer in the non-surgical artificial insemination of Mexican wolves, a technique which can serve to lessen the necessity for shipping lobos around the country in order to make genetically advantageous pairings.
None of the above is intended to downplay the importance of Sevilleta (or Ladder Ranch, for that matter). They also play an extremely important role in acclimating animals prior to release in the wild, in taking wolves recaptured for various reasons and housing them until they are either re-released or sent to another captive breeding facility, and generally supporting the program in the wild.
We in the Southwest are keeping our fingers crossed that numerous pups from several large litters born in 2006 survive, pair up, and breed in the wild themselves. The program has been beset by many problems over the years. Projections in the Final EIS suggested that the goal of 100 wolves in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area (BRWRA) should have been reached by now, along with 18 breeding pairs. Last year, only five breeding pairs could be verified, along with 35-49 total estimated wolves.
Among the reasons for the shortfall are numerous removals (recapture or lethal control) for livestock depredations and recapture of wolves that set up territories outside the invisible, odorless boundaries of the recovery area, set in the original non-essential, experimental rule governing the program. Although scientists have recommended rule change to remove these politically motivated boundaries since 2001, they remain in effect.
Jean,
Thanks for the added info and the great update!
So what can be done about this bizzzzarre boundary condition?
I’m literally heading out the door for a trip to the recovery area, but the short answer is the usual one in conservation matters: endless pressure, endlessly applied. The Five Year Review of the reintroduction recommended pretty much the same thing as the 2001 Three Year Review with regard to boundaries. The problem is that the agencies have been holding endless meetings, stakeholder groups, and similar time-consuming “process,” which do little to further the necessary rule changes.
Because the problem is a poltical one, wolf supporters in the Southwest are guardedly hopeful that changes in the political climate at both the national and regional levels may make the agencies a little more likely to move in the right direction. The pace of progress is glacial, however. Even if the USFWS proposes rule change tomorrow, the approval process under NEPA (the National Environmental Policy Act) will take years, not months.
Read today that M859 is to be terminated for cow lilling in the Gila Wilderness. Anyone know if this depradation was actually on public land? Also, are ranchers in this area using any preventive techniques? Thanks
Although I have no “insider knowledge” regarding exactly where this depredation took place, M859 had been frequenting an area northeast of the Gila Wilderness where there is a “checkerboard” (more or less) of sections of private, state, and BLM land adjacent to a larger chunk of national forest. The actual depredation could have taken place on either federal, state, or private land.
For the approximate location where M859 has been found in the past six weeks or so, check out the wolf location map for October, on the AZGFD web site.
http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/es/wolf_reintroduction.shtml
Scroll down to “Distribution” to find the link to a color map (PDF) covering locations for August through October.
As for preventive techniques, I’m not sure whether the ranchers in the immediate area have been availing themselves of proactive assistance from Defenders of Wildlife or applying any special preventive techniques themselves. There have been previous depredations in this general area over the years. It is an area of open grasslands as well as some rugged mountains and canyons. Quite a few cattle have been present whenever we have visited the area.
The Five Year Review of the project includes a map showing source and sink areas for Mexican wolves. Two out of four sink areas for “cattle related removals” are in the general area frequented by M859. (Map, page TC-39, Five Year Review.)
You can download the Five Year Review from the USFWS Mexican wolf website at
http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/mexicanwolf/
(It is a huge document!)
According to an article by Tania Soussan in the print edition of today’s Albuquerque Journal, government officials killed M859 on Wednesday.
His death brings to eight the number of endangered Mexican wolves killed by project personnel for livestock conflicts. Five wolves have been lethally removed in 2006 alone, including Hon Dah AM578, Saddle M864, Nantac AM993, Nantac AF873, and now, lone wolf M859. F924, who had been traveling with M859, was trapped and removed earlier this month as a result of her involvement in the recent depredations.
In addition, a total of eight wolves from the Hon Dah pack, including the alpha female, one yearling, and six pups died in captivity shortly after being recaptured as a result of conflicts with cattle. One additional Hon Dah pup remained in the wild, but is presumed dead because it was too young to survive on its own when its mother was captured. Another Hon Dah yearling was also captured and remains in captivity.
The grand total of endangered lobos removed, either lethally or by trapping, for livestock conflicts this year is up to at least 19. In addition, one wolf was killed by a vehicle (F487), another was found dead of human related causes that are still under investigation (Meridian AF838), and three more died from causes that are currently unknown (Meridian pup m1029, Bluestem AM507, and San Mateo M927).
At the beginning of 2006 the estimated population of Mexican wolves in the wild was between 35 and 49 animals. Clearly, the loss of 24 animals represents yet another major setback in this beleaguered reintroduction program.
Michael Robinson, in a press release posted on the web site of the Center for Biological Diversity, points out that M859 scavenged on livestock in early 2005, prior to killing cattle himself. In the 2001 Three Year Review report on the project, independent scientists recommended that public lands ranchers take some responsibility for carcass removal or treatment when cattle die of causes other than wolf depredation, in order to prevent habituation of wolves to eating and killing cows. No action has been taken on that recommendation.
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/press/wolf-11-22-2006.html
According to an article by Tania Soussan in today’s print edition of the Albuquerque Journal, M859 was killed by government personnel on Wednesday. His death brings the total number of Mexican wolves shot by the government in predator control actions to eight, with five of them occurring this year.
A press release from Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity indicates that M859 scavenged on livestock he didn’t kill in early 2005, before killing any cattle himself.
The Current wolf report from the ADGF gives us promising news. As of this month the wolf population is just over 60 in the wild. Thanks to the survival of several wolf pups born in the wild the paks are getting bigger and we are getting more true wild wolves. As I like to imphasize, slow is better than fast. With time the project will get bigger and better. Let’s be patient and focus on this than all the negative stuff. We already know how the ranchers and others feel about these issue, lets move on. I myself, personally get tired of hearing about this stuff and I try to focus on the positive. Anyways that’s me, fill free to expess youselves. Headed up to Alpine and to the Gila hope to get some sitings. Thanks to the ADGF for the great work they are doing!