Necropsy reveals wolf was shot
At least one of five Mexican gray wolves recently found dead was a
shooting victim, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The body of the 6-year-old wolf, alpha female of the Saddle Pack, was
found Sept. 15 in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. She had been in
the wild in eastern Arizona since January 2001.
The wolf last spring gave birth to at least five pups, according to
Colleen Buchanan of the service’s wolf-recovery team.
“The male was recently seen with at least one of the pups,” she said.
“Whether the others are still alive, we don’t know.”
Officials are awaiting necropsy results regarding four other dead wolves,
one of which was found Sept. 23 on the outskirts of Silver City.
Residents reported they saw the wolf feeding on one or two javelina
carcasses near the water tanks on top of the hill, near U.S. 180, on the
western edge of town.
Shortly thereafter, officials found the wolf’s body. Rich Bard of the
USFWS said at the time “there was no obvious cause of death.”
The wolf was part of the six-member Francisco Pack, originally released in
the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. After pack members wandered outside
the recovery area, they were recaptured and later turned loose in the Gila
National Forest.
Other Francisco Pack members were not in the area, according to Bard.
Necropsies take considerable time to complete because the USFWS has just
one person – at a forensics laboratory in Ashland, Ore. – doing all the
analyses of suspicious wildlife deaths in the United States, according to
Buchanan.
A reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of those
responsible for killing a wolf. The telephone number is (888) 459-WOLF.