AR-News: Reintroduced Wolves Dying in Southwest

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/04/science/04WOLV.html?ex=1068526800&en=245eb43
3a790f76c&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE
By ANNE MINARD

Published: November 4, 2003


FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., Nov. 3 — Five years ago, federal biologists began to 
introduce endangered Mexican gray wolves in remote mountains near the Arizona-New 
Mexico border, half a century after the end of concerted campaigns to wipe them 
out. Wolf pairs have been added over the years, with a goal of establishing a 
population of 100 wild wolves. But now someone is killing them. 
There are 24 wolves living in the wild in the Southwest. But nearly that 
many, at least 22, have died under "suspicious circumstances," investigators say, 
since the program began. Six have been killed in the past two months, three by 
gunshot and three by cars. 
Curtis Graves, the special agent with the federal Fish and Wildlife Service 
who is responsible for the wolf cases, is reluctant to assign a motive. He said 
the shootings could be a result of confusion by hunters who thought they were 
lawfully killing coyotes. But neither he nor local ranchers rule out the 
possibility that some ranchers may be shooting wolves to protect their cattle. 
"If the wolves continue to be dumped in here and continue to destroy people's 
way of life in the cattle industry," said Sam Luce, a rancher in Blue, Ariz., 
"people are going to defend themselves."
The reintroduction effort has been plagued by other problems. Officials say 
they are frustrated by political constraints.
One rule says that if the wolves stray out of the recovery boundaries, they 
must be trapped and released somewhere else. One such boundary divides the 
White Mountain Apache Reservation, where wolves are welcome, from the San Carlos 
Apache Reservation to the south, where they are not. The border is obvious on a 
map, but indistinguishable on the ground, most of all to wolves. 
"You can't manage wolves based on boundaries," said Paul Overy, the Arizona 
Game and Fish Department field team leader. "Their whole nature is to disperse."
Some say the bigger problem is money.
"This administration is literally strangling the Fish and Wildlife Service to 
stop endangered species programs," said Craig Miller, Southwest director for 
Defenders of Wildlife, an environmental group.
On the wolf project, budget cuts have resulted in position cuts, mostly in 
law enforcement. As patrols have dried up, shootings have risen. Mr. Graves 
acknowledges that his agency has not solved a single case since 1998. He said the 
strain of the project had caused turnover among agency personnel. Mr. Graves 
himself is leaving, next month, for a job that has nothing to do with Mexican 
gray wolves.






"I would not enter on my list of friends the man who needlessly sets foot 
upon a worm." - Cowper
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