Wolf found dead near Silver City
By Thomas J. Baird
An endangered Mexican Gray Wolf, reintroduced into New Mexico as part of the federal and state interagency Wolf Reintroduction Project, was found dead near Silver City Wednesday, officials from the project and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service confirmed Thursday.
“The dead wolf was the alpha male from the Francisco pack,” said Victoria Fox, an information officer with the federal Fish & Wildlife Service in Albuquerque.
Fox said the New Mexico Game & Fish Department’s law enforcement agents are in charge of the investigation into the death of the wolf and added that the animal’s carcass had been sent to Ashland, Ore., where officials at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Forensics Laboratory will perform a necropsy to determine the cause of death.
Fox declined to comment on whether the animal may have died of natural causes or by human intervention, such as trapping, shooting or being struck by a vehicle. She said agency protocol prohibited comment on such deaths until a necropsy has been performed, which she noted could take a month or more, depending on the case load at the agency’s forensics lab.
Michael Robinson, a local staffer for the Center for Biological Diversity, also confirmed the death of the lobo Thursday and said it was wolf No. 509, an adult male of the Francisco Pack. The national nonprofit organization, which was founded in rural southwestern New Mexico and claims a membership of 7,500, describes itself as an advocacy group for animals and plants hovering on the brink of extinction.
“The wolf had been released in 2000 and he and his mate lived partly on the Apache National Forest in Arizona and partly on lands to the west,” Robinson said Thursday.
He said the dead wolf’s mate, which was last known to have been in Arizona, has five pups which are now yearlings.
“Because the federal government’s regulations require capturing any wolf whose home is largely outside of the recovery area, the Mexican Wolf is the only endangered species in the U.S. where the government is required to capture them if they leave their recovery area,” Robinson said.
The wildlife activist said the wolf pair had once been captured and the female had 5 pups while in captivity, all of which died. He added that the fate of wolves that are trapped, may mirror that of other wolves repeatedly taken into captivity and re-released elsewhere, which has resulted in a scattering of the pack – leading ultimately to either recapture or the death of the animals.
“Later, they were re-released in the Gila Wilderness,” Robinson said, referring to the now deceased alpha male and his mate. “And they split apart, which has happened before with wolves after they have been in captivity. The Francisco Pack has never been confirmed as having attacked livestock, were not involved in depredations, and records from Fish & Wildlife bear that out. It is that rule about capturing them outside the recovery area, and incidents such as this, that are an obstacle to recovery of this endangered animal.”