Mexican wolf update. Francisco Pack ordered lethally controlled.

5-12-2005, update 5-15, 5-17, 6-3

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We are going to pay more attention to the Mexican wolf restoration program because it gets less attention than that of the gray wolf in the North Rockies, but it is more endangered with its numbers only at 50 to 55 animals in the wild, and now the "control" of an entire pack underway. Worse still,  after a secret meeting with a extreme right wing New Mexico congressman, the USFWS is stopping new releases of the Mexican wolf for a year.

Below is a report on the latest by Jean Ossorio, a New Mexican, long active in Mexican wolf recovery. Ossorio has offered to provide us with news and analysis.

Report of May 8, 2005
By Jean Ossorio.

Population figures

The Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project Monthly Update for April 1-30, (govt report) released on May 6, lists a total of 24 radio-collared wolves in the wild, broken down as follows:

In the Gila National Forest in New Mexico, there are currently four packs, with a total of eleven radio-collared animals, and one additional radio-collared lone wolf.

In the Apache National Forest in Arizona, there are six packs, with a total of seven collared animals, and three additional lone wolves with collars.

On the Fort Apache Indian Reservation there is a single pack with one collared wolf, and one additional lone wolf with a collar.

In addition to the collared animals, the report estimates that there are “as many as 25-30 additional uncollared wolves distributed among groups and packs.” Thus the total estimated number of Mexican wolves in the wild as of April 30, 2005, was 49-54. For purposes of comparison, the Final Environmental Impact Statement (1996) projected an estimated population of 68 wolves in the wild at the end of the sixth year of the program (December 31, 2004).

For purposes of the monthly update reports, the Interagency Field Team defines a pack of wolves as “two or more wolves which maintain an established territory and are proven breeders.” They define a group of wolves as “two or more wolves that travel together on a consistent basis, but are not proven breeders.”

Depredations and removals

The April update also reports that the alpha male of the Aspen pack (AM512) was recaptured for depredation along the Blue River corridor on April 9. The pack had injured a dog and a calf, both of which are expected to recover from their injuries. Because the pack had been involved in several incidents of prior nuisance behavior in the area, and returned after being hazed away, project personnel initiated trapping.

The area along the Blue River contains a number of private inholdings within the Apache National Forest, many of which are small. Quite a few of the residents have moved in from other places, including urban areas, and many keep a small number of livestock, as well as hunting dogs and household pets. There are also a few working ranch base properties, and one or two hunting outfitters in the area.

The Aspen alpha female (AF667) has denned. Project personnel located the den and are attempting to trap her and capture her pups. She, her mate, and any living pups are to be reunited at the Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility in NM, once she is caught. The removal of these wolves from the wild is especially unfortunate, as they have genetic material from all three lineages of Mexican wolves, two of which are underrepresented in the wild population.

Meanwhile in New Mexico, members of the Francisco pack are confirmed to have killed a cow on or about April 30 in the Rainy Mesa area, north of the Gila Wilderness. They were hazed away from the area, but later, according to newspaper and television reports, killed a second cow in their new location. "If they kill any additional livestock, they could be subject to a “'lethal take order,'” according to Mexican Wolf Recovery Coordinator John Morgart, who was quoted in a front page article in Saturday’s Albuquerque Journal print edition. (May 7, 2005, p. A1) The rancher who owned the first cow is demanding, according to the article, that the USFWS kill the Francisco pack, as well as the two-wolf Ring pack, before they have a chance to kill more livestock.

The area north of the Gila Wilderness is heavily grazed. Several wolf packs have run into trouble in that general area in the past, first scavenging on cattle carcasses and later depredating. The Five Year Review of the Mexican wolf reintroduction program, released in December 2004, stated that 91% of wolves that scavenge on carcasses of livestock dead of causes other than wolf depredation go on to kill livestock. Despite the fact that the Three Year Review report (2001), written by four independent scientists, strongly recommended that public land grazing permittees within the recovery area be required to take some responsibility for removing or rendering unpalatable the remains of their dead livestock to prevent wolves from becoming habituated to eating beef, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has as yet taken no action to deal with the carcass problem.

Latest news is that the Francisco wolf pack has been put under "lethal control." It consists of 3 Mexican wolves and has not moved far enough away after being hazed by rubber bullets. Over the last several weeks the pack has perhaps killed 4 head of livestock.

Wolf 511, alpha female of
the Francisco Pack

Sadly, these wolves might have gained a taste for beef after stumbling upon rotting cow carcasses that had not been disposed of. This is all on public land in rough terrain, with primitive roads, not private land.  The area has a lot of elk in winter and spring, but then cattle are moved in, and the elk move up the mountains. Last year this happened but the pack's alpha female AF511 and her pack refrained from killing the intruding cattle. AF511 is an 8 year old female with a long and colorful history. She has been one of the most successful breeders in the program. She is great grandpup of Don Diego, who was the last of the wild caught Mexican wolves. She might have denned, and this could explain the failure of the pack to move. Whether the pack will all be killed and the pups, if any, clubbed or killed by other means, remains to seen.

The nearby Ring Pack might also been endangered by a rancher's cows. They too have been scavenging dead cattle. The Ring Pack is in the same general area. Most ranchers in the area have been very reluctant to change their carcass disposal practices unlike many in Idaho and Montana wolf country who have found it prudent and good public relations

With the likely termination of the Francisco Pack and the removal of the Aspen Pack from the wild (see report above), the Mexican wolf population may be down to just 44-45 free wolves. . . .  Ralph Maughan.

Update 5-15. One yearling member of the pack M919 was been trapped and taken to the Sevilleta Wildlife Refuge north of Socorro, NM. He was not killed, although ecologically speaking it makes little difference.

Update 5-17. The alpha female has a litter of 5 pups. The plan is to bring them in alive if possible. Unless the alpha male AM904 steps into one of the traps they have set pretty soon, they're going to whack him. None of the wolves is ever expected to be re-released into the wild.

Update 6-3. The Francisco alphas remain in the wild, still subject to lethal control, although trapping efforts continue. The alpha female, AF511, gave birth to five pups on May 13th. One has died, leaving four living pups to be recaptured along with 511.

Meanwhile, the long delayed socio-economic portion of the Five-Year Review and Assessment of the Mexican Wolf Plan has been released. A link to the report can be found on the FWS Mexican wolf web site:

http://mexicanwolf.fws.gov 

The comment period on the entire Five-Year Review, the moratorium on new releases, and a series of SOP's, including the harsh new control protocol (SOP 13), has been extended from May 31 to July 31. At the same time, wolf managers announced a series of eight public meetings (but not public hearings, as no court reporter will be present, and all comments must be submitted in writing to count) during the month of June. Details can be found at the address listed above.


 

Copyright © 2005
Ralph Maughan
Wolf Recovery Foundation

PO Box 444; Pocatello, ID  83204
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