Wolf pack released into the Gila Wilderness
SILVER CITY, N.M. (AP) – A new pack of endangered Mexican gray wolves is
being released this week into the Gila Wilderness of southwestern New
Mexico.
The wolves, a pair and five pups, are part of a government program
launched in March 1998 to re-establish wild populations of the rare wolf
in New Mexico and Arizona.
Officials say the female and her pups were captured in Arizona after
straying outside the boundaries of the reintroduction program’s designated
recovery area.
The female’s original mate and the father of the pups was killed in
Arizona earlier this year by government sharpshooters after it repeatedly
attacked and killed livestock. She was paired with a new male while in
captivity.