Killed Mexican Grey Wolf Highlights Troubles With New Proposal

Federal wildlife officials are currently investigating the death of a Mexican grey wolf whose corpse was found in Arizona's Blue Range recovery area. Few other details have been provided, but the issue does help highlight an ongoing debate about the fate of these endangered animals in southwest states.

The death was announced on Friday during a monthly briefing by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The deceased wolf was a male member of the Elk Horn Pack, that makes Arizona its home, according to The Associated Press (AP).

FWS members have expressed their frustration concerning illegal shooting and even trapping of the protected Mexican grey wolf in the past, as there are expected to be only around 83 currently prowling the wilds of New Mexico and Arizona.

And they were all but eliminated in the region prior to 1977, when the FWS initiated efforts to conserve the species. The aforementioned Blue Range Recovery Area is a historic spot for the wolves, as Mexican wolves were released there for the first time in 1998 as part of a new recovery program.

But now that program is facing some resistance, after the FWS proposed a new rule change concerning the reintroduction of these wolves to their once-natural habitats.

"Over the last 16 years, we have learned a great deal about managing this wild population of Mexican Wolves," the Service's Southwest Regional Director Benjamin Tuggle said in a statement. "These proposed revisions to the original 10J rule reflect some of the necessary management changes as we move forward with wolf reintroductions, while being responsive to the diverse needs of local communities." (Scroll to read on....)

However, the head of Arizona's Game and Fish Commission, Chairman Robert Mansell, is arguing that the latest rendition of the new proposal is a "back room deal" with state officials that could prove disastrous for ranchers, sportsmen, and other groups, as it fails to define a cap on the number of wolves allowed in southwest regions.

"It does not contain the elements required to manage wolves in balance [with local fauna and livestock]," he said in a recent letter, according to the Casa Grande Dispatch.

And the reintroduction of grey wolves across the United States has proved difficult for some citizens, especially farmers who are now hard-pressed to take special care to protect their livestock from predators that they are not allowed to shoot.

Charna Lefton, an FWS spokeswoman, told the Dispatch that the agency has "met with hundreds of stakeholders representing a diversity of perspectives to ensure that our reintroduction of Mexican wolves takes their interests into account," she said. "We deny the characterization of our meetings with our state partners as back room deals."