Second of eight wolves found dead was killed by automobile
Necropsy results have been announced regarding the second of eight Mexican
gray wolves found dead this year.
The body of a wolf classified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as
Male 857 was found Sept. 19 in the middle of a road near Willow Creek, in
the northern part of the Gila National Forest.
“He was confirmed to have been hit by a car,” said Colleen Buchanan of the
service’s wolf-recovery program. “There were rumors he was shot, but it
turns out that wasn’t true.”
The wolf was born in the wild, possibly in 2002.
“We suspect he was an offspring of the Luna pair in New Mexico, but we
don’t have confirmation of that yet from the lab,” Buchanan said.
“We saw pups with (the pair) last year, and they probably had pups again
this year,” the service’s Maggie Dwire told the Daily Press.
The pack is believed to be in the Loco Mountain area, east of Snow Lake.
The service last week reported that a 6-year-old wolf, alpha female of the
Saddle Pack in eastern Arizona, died from a gunshot wound. She was found
dead Sept. 15 in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest.
Officials are awaiting laboratory reports on six other wolves whose deaths
are considered suspicious.
One of the bodies was found Sept. 23 on the western edge of Silver City –
near the water tanks on top of the hill, close to U.S. 180 – shortly after
residents reported seeing a wolf feeding on a javelina carcass.