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← Alyssa’s Den: Why Wolves are Important

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By Nathan Lyle | Published October 18, 2016 | Full size is 103 × 300 pixels

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Wolfwatcher

9 hours ago

Killing of Mexican Wolf Highlights Why Recovery Is Failingbit.ly/3GRkkQrAdvocates and conservationists are increasingly worried about the plight of critically endangered Mexican wolves.The recent death of a genetically valuable male last month in New Mexico highlights why.The US Fish and Wildlife Service is failing to protect wolves against even the most basic threats, such as illegal killing. Over the years, conservation groups have tried to force FWS to do its job, primarily using the courts. Some have sued the agency at least half a dozen times for failing to comply with the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.FWS has largely evaded many of the recommendations biologists and conservationists have put forward: a population of at least 750 individuals, spread across at least three distinct yet connected populations, and frequent genetic exchange. These goals were instead significantly reduced in the agency’s final plan, and recovery has been elusive.David Parsons, a FWS Mexican wolf biologist for over three decades, has an idea why. He says that the management of Mexican wolves has been mired in a history of mistakes and unaccountability, from state governors using their power to contradict the guidance of wolf biologists to lax enforcement of existing protections.Limited geneticsThe wanton killing of wolves exacerbates an even greater problem. Since only seven Mexican wolves were alive when recovery efforts started, inbreeding issues have plagued the program to bring them back since the beginning. Currently, the agency releases captive-born pups into wild dens with pups of similar age, a process called cross-fostering.A better way to help assess and boost genetics, he says, would be to release pups with their parents, which could breed much quicker than the two years it takes pups to maturity.BarriersComplete recovery won’t happen until wolves are allowed to travel north of Interstate 40. Currently, wildlife managers are directed to remove wolves that venture north of the highway, which cuts across north-central Arizona and New Mexico.Some groups like Utah and Arizona state game agencies, I believe, have argued that we need to keep those two subspecies of wolves separate. most of the geneticists I talked to believe that it will be beneficial to have that kind of connection among the two populations in the long term.”Legal imbroglioThree lawsuits working their way through the courts now are meant to correct many of these issues.The Western Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice filed separate lawsuits last month, citing much of the research conducted by Carroll and Parsons.Until USFWS follows the science there will be the same resultsScience has to be in the for front of all that is being done forI the. Mexican wolves.Photo: Mexicanwolves.org ... See MoreSee Less

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Wolfwatcher

1 day ago

Colorado wolfpack makes first reported livestock kill since members presumably shotbit.ly/3hXX60oColorado's North Park wolfpack reportedly injured a cow calf badly enough it had to be euthanized Saturday, marking the pack's first kill since three of its members were presumably killed in Wyoming just more than a month ago. Colorado Parks and Wildlife officer confirmed the approximately 520-pound calf was injured by three to five wolves.Schmidt said the injured calf was found Saturday morning while a ranch hand was checking cattle. He said he had trucked the calves' mothers to Nebraska for the winter and the calves were being weaned.The incident occurred with five houses with kids a quarter mile away and near a major road.The ranch hand found calves had been chased through a fence onto the road and a handful of others were in willows, one of which was the injured calf.Wolves are listed as federally endangered in Colorado and can be killed only to protect human life. It is legal to use nonlethal hazing methods to deter wolves.it was the ranch's first encounter with the pack. "We are trying our best to live with them. What rubs the rancher the wrong way is not that they kill our cattle, but more that we can’t do anything to defend our cattle.’’Photo: Bonnie Marris ... See MoreSee Less

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