By Associated Press | Wed, Oct 23, 2013
Wildlife managers have resumed efforts to capture and remove from the wild three Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico.
Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initially authorized the captures in August and September, saying several livestock kills over the last year were linked to the Fox Mountain pack in New Mexico and the Paradise pack in Arizona.
Efforts to capture one of the Fox Mountain wolves and the alpha male and female of the Paradise pack had been put on hold during the government shutdown.
With work resuming, environmentalists argue that removing the wolves will undermine efforts to grow the population. The federal government has been working for 15 years to reintroduce wolves to the Southwest.
Wildlife officials are also investigating the death of a wolf found in New Mexico in September.