Mexican Wolf Research Paper

Saving a Species
“Go back to California!”, is just one of the many things supporters of the Mexican Gray Wolf reintroduction program were hearing at a meeting about “predators” in Alpine this February. Over three hundred people were in attendance and only a handful of people were supporters of these dog sized predators. They sat quietly listening to everyone bash the most endangered mammal in North America (Corrigan). The Mexican Gray Wolf is about the size of a German Shepherd, four to five feet long and seventy to ninety pounds. Up until recently they only existed in zoos but with the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction project and the help of United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Arizona Game and Fish, White Mountain Apache Tribe, United States Department of Agriculture(USDA), animal and plant health inspection service, wildlife
services and USDA forest service, this wolves’ grim past can just be a memory (“Mexican Wolf Reintroduction and management”).
The Mexican Gray Wolf was once a free roaming predator, historically found in Arizona above 4,500 feet in elevation but with the settlement of people across the southwest increasing, the number of wolves was decreasing rapidly (“Mexican Wolf Reintroduction and Management”).
The wolves were causing problems with livestock and normal day to day human activities, that by the mid-1900s the Mexican Wolf had been eliminated from the United States (Mexican Wolf Recovery and Planning). The last known Mexican Wolf in Arizona was killed in 1970 (“Mexican Wolf Reintroduction and Management”). In 1976 the Mexican Gray Wolf was on the verge of extinction, it was placed on the endangered species list after the passing of the Endangered Species Act in 1973 (“Mexican Wolf Recovery Planning”). The United States and Mexico governments then decided to collaborate to save this rare species of wolf. With only five remaining in the wild, four males and one pregnant female, they were successfully able to capture all five from 1977-1980. The two governments decided to start a captive breeding program to prevent extinction (“Brush with
Extinction”).
The Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan was approved in 1982 and called for the continued breeding of the wolves in captivity and the re-establishment of two feasible populations in the wild through reintroduction as the first step toward an eventual recovery (“Brush with Extinction”). In 1997 after almost twenty years of vigorous research, planning and captive breeding, approval for the first releases of Mexican wolves was granted. The wolves would be released to an area known as the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area (BRWRA) comprising 4.4 million acres on the Apache-Sitgreeves and Gila National forests in Arizona and New Mexico along with an additional 1.6 million acres on the neighboring Fort Apache Indian Reservation, who joined in 2002 (“Brush with Extinction”). This specific area that was chosen contains about 6,000 square miles that is in historic colonizing range for the wolves; it is also resilient to drought and contains a large selection of multiple species of prey (“Mexican Wolf Reintroduction and Management”). It is a perfect area to bring these animals back from endangerment. The Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan has two main goals set in place. The first main goal was to reestablish a population of at least one hundred wolves in the recovery area by the end of 2006. This population would include eighteen breeding pairs (“Plan for Recovery”). A breeding pair by definition is a male and female that parent at least two pups and raise them through December 31st. Last year only three pairs met this requirement, that is a number down from six in 2011 (“75 is great AND we NEED more releases”). The second goal is to manage the wolf in their habitat in a way that won’t negatively impact the lifestyles and economy of local residents (“Mexican Wolf Reintroduction and Management”). At this time the recovery effort has failed to reach their primary goal of at least one hundred wolves in the wild, a number that stands at seventy five as of the end of 2012 the highest population since the wolf’s reintroduction in 1998. In most recent attempts a male wolf was introduced this year in hopes he would bond with the alpha female and become the alpha male in the pack. In failing to do so that wolf was captured and brought back to captivity so a new plan was thought up involving this wolf and a female mating in captivity then being released to the wild during the pregnancy (“75 is great AND we NEED more releases”). In order for this program to be a success communities have to support it by being more aware of the wolves and the laws regarding the wolves. During the first five years of the project about 24% of the wolves released or known to be born in the wild have died. The highest cause of mortality in wolves is humans; gunshot wounds and vehicle collisions make up 56% of all deaths. If more people were educated about these wolves maybe less would be shot mistakenly for coyotes (“Mortality”). Farmers and hunters are obviously opposed to this program and so are many people in the community that are fearful of these wolves, but a free-ranging wolf has never injured a person. These animals need to be treated with respect just like any other wild animal and not be antagonized to prevent negative interactions. The Mexican Wolf is similar to a bear and like a bear the more it gets fed and has human interaction, the more acclimated it becomes to humans, resulting in a higher risk to pet dogs, people and even themselves. Some wolves have even had to be recaptured and taken back to captivity due to not being able to be scared away from human camp sites with hazing (“Wolf Human Interaction”). Understandably farmers don’t want their livestock being affected by this predator but in a shocking statistic only 4% of the wolves’ prey is livestock. If ranchers find depletion of livestock they can even be reimbursed by the Defenders of Wildlife (DOW). To date seventy possible or confirmed depredations or injuries have been reported and the DOW has paid out $34,000 (“Program Stats”). So why aren’t farmers more on board to saving this species if their assets are covered? Claims have been made that the program removes carcasses before any investigations are performed, and others claim that they are not getting proper reimbursement for their livestock (Corrigan). Neither claim has been confirmed. As far as the hunters go, annual changes in prey population, elk and deer, have never exceeded 3%. The wolves are just doing what they would have been doing naturally had we not killed them off years ago. Right now the wolves are being monitored in various ways: tracking, scent posts, howling, photo traps and telemetry collars. Telemetry collars are currently on thirty seven wolves that are located on average once a week. These collars can determine movements, home range, prey selection and other behavioral information (“Program Stats”). The current population inside the Blue Range Wolf Recovery area in Arizona is three times less what it could be at maximum capacity (“Density”). We need to help the efforts of this project by embracing the wolf, being aware of it, just as we’re aware of every other natural occurring predator. This program needs more exposure to get the word out on protecting these animals. Even people who live in this area have no idea about this program, it’s no wonder they are having such a hard time adapting, no one knows they exist. There are other predators in this same area and none have as much animosity and hate towards them than this wolf. We need to keep in mind that this land was theirs first, we took it and almost made a species that was once free roaming almost extinct. Last year four wolves were killed illegally and are currently under investigation (“75 is great AND we NEED more releases”), when will it stop? When can we learn to coexist with other species, but I guess if we can’t even learn to coexist with each other, what chance does a wolf have?

Works Cited
“75 is great AND we NEED more releases.” White Mountain Conservation League. 8 Feb. 2013. Web.28 Feb.2013.
Corrigan, Terence. "Wolves, feds under the gun at Alpine predator meeting" The White Mountain Independent. N.p., 21 February 2013. Web. 21 February 2013
”Brush With Extinction”. Mexican Wolves. 2009. Web. 9 March 2013.
“Mexican Gray Wolf.” Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.
“Mexican Wolf Recovery Planning.” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 22 Feb 2013. Web. 28 Feb 2013.
“Mexican Wolf Reintroduction and Management.” Arizona Game and Fish Department. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.
“Mortality.” Arizona Game and Fish Department. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.
“Program Stats.” Arizona Game and Fish Department. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.
“Wolf Human Interactions.” Arizona Game and Fish Department. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.