Hunt begins to kill wolves
By GARY GHIOTO
Sun Staff Reporter
12/07/2002
Three Mexican gray wolves involved in the confirmed killing of cattle on a
grazing allotment in the Apache National Forest are being hunted this
weekend by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officers. At least two of the
wolves will be shot, said federal officials, despite protests by the
executive director of the Phoenix Zoo, the Arizona and New Mexico Sierra
Club chapters and the Center for Biological Diversity.
Ten regional conservation, religious and animal protection groups have
asked Interior Secretary Gale Norton to overturn the decision.
The wolves, believed to be two juveniles born in the wild and one adult,
likely killed four head of cattle and attacked a horse and a dog in the
Apache National Forest during the past year, said Brian Kelly, Mexican
wolf coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in New Mexico.
An order to kill the wolves was issued after attempts to use aversive
training tactics, trapping and capture using a helicopter failed, Kelly
said.
“Ultimately, you would like every wolf to survive, but when we formulated
the Mexican wolf recovery program we recognized that if you’re going to
have a wolf population, then you’re going to have to control some of them,
because not all of them are going to behave properly,” Kelly said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for the wolf
reintroduction program that began four years ago with the goal of
eventually establishing a population of 100 wolves in Arizona. A handful
of Mexican gray wolves, considered one of the most endangered mammals in
North America, were captured in the late 1970s for a captive-breeding
program.
There are now an estimated 40 to 50 wolves in eight packs living in the
mountains of eastern Arizona and the White Mountain Apache Reservation.
Officials with the Mexican wolf program and state partners such as the
Arizona Game and Fish Department, began investigating reports that wolves
were killing cattle on the grazing allotment more than a year ago.
After an intensive investigation that ruled out some livestock kills tied
to mountain lions and other predators, officials determined wolves had
killed four head of cattle and possibly another, at the remote grazing
allotment in the Apache National Forest, Kelly said.
In consultation with Game and Fish departments in Arizona and New Mexico
and the White Mountain Apache Tribe, Fish and Wildlife Service officials
issued the kill order, Kelly said.
Under the guidelines established for the Mexican wolf recovery program,
problem animals can be “lethally removed” if necessary.
“We don’t want the wanton taking of wolves, but we think we’ve got the
ones causing the problem, so let’s take them out and see if the
depredations continue,” Kelly said.
The decision has drawn intense criticism from conservation and animal
protection groups.
Michael J. Robinson, carnivore coordinator of the Center for Biological
Diversity in New Mexico, said the killings will setback the wolf program’s
goal to establish a wild-born population. He also said the program is
being pressured by ranchers to kill the wolves.
Murray denied that the loss of the three wolves would be a setback for the
program.
“Our (wolf) population is showing all the signs of becoming a true
population. We have second generation wild-born offspring out there now.
We’ve got a minimum of eight breeding groups out there on the ground. We
had 20 surviving pups born this year. Everything you would expect to see
in a natural functioning population is happening out there,” Kelly said.
Murray noted that livestock predation by Mexican gray wolves has not been
a significant problem. The animals prefer elk and other wild creatures for
their prey.
During the past four years, officials have investigated only 44 confirmed,
probable or possible livestock depredation cases tied to Mexican gray
wolves.
“That is significantly below what we projected when we planned the
program. We had projected the program could have 34 cases a year,” Kelly
said.
Killing the wolves is “controversial” but Kelly said it shouldn’t be “a
shock to people.”
“In planning the reintroduction we said during public meetings that in a
variety of circumstances, we will use lethal control. It’s not our
preference to do so. We hope we don’t have to do it, but we recognize that
there will be situations where there will be problems that have to be
resolved,” he said.
The owners of the four cattle that were confirmed killed by the wolves
have been reimbursed by Defenders of Wildlife, said Robinson.
“Since the depredations do not represent an economic burden for the owners
of the cattle killed, and since the livestock husbandry practices in the
region may well have contributed to the current depredations, the
government should be erring on the side of the wolves,” said a letter sent
to Norton by the conservation and animal protection groups.
Kelly said Friday that Norton has not contacted his office to stay the
hunt.
Reporter Gary Ghioto can be reached at 556-2253 or gghioto@azdailysun.com.
On the Net: Center for Biological Diversity; www.biologicaldiversity.org
and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, www.endangered.fws.gov.