Wolves evade federal hunters
ALBUQUERQUE – A pair of Mexican gray wolves believed responsible for killing
five calves and a horse have eluded federal hunters. A Wildlife Services agency
team has been unsuccessful in tracking down the wolves in the Apache-Sitgreaves
National Forest in southeastern Arizona.
“Efforts are continuing, but it’s very rugged country,” said Brian Kelly,
manager of the federal program to reintroduce the endangered wolves in southern
New Mexico and Arizona. Kelly said bad weather had hampered efforts to find the
wolves.
Kelly authorized federal agents to shoot the wolves after forensic evidence and
a rancher’s account implicated the wolves in livestock attacks in Arizona.
Environmental groups have protested and asked Interior Secretary Gale Norton to
intervene and spare the wolves, but she has not responded.