Feds Investigate Potential Wolf Shooting in Colorado: Wildlife biologists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are conducting DNA analysis on an animal shot by a coyote hunter outside of Kremmling, Colorado on April 26, 2015 to determine if it was an endangered gray wolf. Colorado has immense potential habitat for wolves, but there hasn’t been an extended wolf presence in the state in seven decades. If DNA tests confirm this animal is a wolf, its arrival in Colorado is another indicator that wolves are trying to disperse into this important part of their historic range. We want to see wolves recovered in Colorado, which has some of the best suitable habitat for wolves in the western USA. However, even if gray wolves do manage to get to Colorado, they won’t survive in the state unless state wildlife agencies take a larger role in educating local residents and hunters about them. Coloradans should be aware that there could be wolves in their state, and that this is an endangered and protected species. Most importantly, hunters should be taught how to tell the difference between wolves and coyotes. We’ll keep you updated here as we learn more on this evolving situation.
Billionaire’s Bid to Save Rare Wolves Ends Up on the Brink of Extinction. In New Mexico, state game commissioners unhappy with federal wildlife policies have taken aim at a closer target: a conservation program owned by Ted Turner.
Supporters of the endangered Mexican gray wolf on Tuesday in Santa Fe, New Mexico, demanded that state commissioners reverse their recent decision to close down a wolf recovery program.
The program, which operated for 17 years at a New Mexico ranch owned by billionaire media mogul Ted Turner, has successfully released around 100 of the nearly-extinct wolves back into the wild. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has called Ladder Ranch and two other pre-release facilities “integral” to Mexican wolf recovery efforts.
But now Ladder Ranch's part in Mexican gray wolf recovery is itself in danger of disappearing, and its supporters charge that the reason is opposition to any federal policy that seeks the recovery of wolves in the wild.
A controversial vote
On May 7, New Mexico's game and fish commissioners, all appointees of Governor Susanna Martinez, a Republican, withdrew state support for Mexican gray wolf recovery work at Turner’s Ladder Ranch.
For nearly two decades, the New Mexico game and fish commissioner routinely renewed Ladder Ranch’s permit. But this year, the commission raised new objections to the federal government's handling of the wolf's recovery.
“Our biggest issue is that there is no recovery plan in place,” said state game and fish director Alexa Sandoval during the May 7 meeting. “We don’t know what the end game is for the Mexican wolf population. And so at this point, the department is not in support of the Mexican Wolf Program.”
Michael Robinson, a wildlife conservation activist with the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, believes the commissioners are more motivated by a “vendetta” against the wolf species than the lack of a federal recovery plan.
“This group is appointed by Gov. (Susana) Martinez, who has put representatives from the Cattle Growers Association—whose primary goal is the eradication of predators—and representatives from Big Game Forever, in favor of removing all wolves from the wild,” Robinson said. Since federal wildlife policies aim “They’re trying to force policy change by depriving managers of the infrastructure they need to manage the wolves.”
The commission has not responded to requests for comment on its decision.
In an editorial, the Albuquerque Journal called the commission’s decision “petty” and “unproductive,” noting that it came despite enthusiastic public support of Ladder Ranch wolf recovery program. “Turner should be allowed to use his property as he wishes in cooperation with the federal government, and the commission shouldn’t flex its self-granted power to punish a private landowner to make a statement,” the paper stated.
The 156,000-acre ranch, set in pine forests in the foothills of New Mexico’s Gila Mountains, provides critical habitat and management for endangered animals such as the black-footed ferret, the bolson tortoise, and the Mexican gray wolf.
A Mexican wolf held at the Turner Endangered Species Funds' Ladder Ranch. (Credit: TESF) About a half acre of the ranch is reserved for five special pens, where wolves about to be released into the wild are placed. In this “pre-release captive facility,” wolves encounter minimal human contact, and the animals are fed sparingly to acclimate them to life outside captive breeding programs.
“We’re just a very small component of a ship,” said Mike Phillips, executive director of the Turner Ranch Endangered Species Fund, who has worked in wolf recovery for 35 years. “A ship that the commission feels doesn’t have a rudder, so they’ve decided to oppose the ship’s components, too.”
Dozens of different organizations have written to the governor in support of Ladder Ranch's wolf recovery program, said Robinson, but their requests to reverse the commission's decision have gone unacknowledged so far.
Back from the brinkLong hunted to prevent wolf kills of cattle and elk, Mexican gray wolves had almost vanished by the mid-1950s. Once numbering in the thousands in their historical range of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, the population was down to just seven animals by the time the species was given federal endangered species protections in 1976.
The federal government rounded up the seven last wild wolves to begin a captive breeding program, which has increased the Mexican gray wolf's numbers to 250 in captivity among some 55 facilities, including zoos, wildlife centers, and the three special “pre-release” centers that include Ladder Ranch.
Since 1998, when 11 Mexican gray wolves were released into Arizona and New Mexico, the population in the wild has grown to 109.
Still, nearly 40 years after gaining federal protections, the Mexican gray wolf has yet to get a full recovery plan. Federal wildlife officials have set a management “rule,” adjusted in January of this year, that increases the species' roaming area about 10 times from its 1998 level, and sets a goal of 300 to 325 wolves in the region.
But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has never established a target population that would trigger the end of federal endangered species status, which provided an opening for unsympathetic game commissioners when Ladder Ranch's permit came due for renewal.
“The million dollar question is, how many wolves are enough?” asked commissioner Thomas Salopek at the hearing. “100? 300? Is it going to be 500 or 1,000? I can’t go any further if we don’t have a known number.”
Sherry Barrett, Mexican wolf recovery coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, said that the agency is developing a formal recovery plan, but that no timetable has been set for finishing it.
A cloudy future
Phillips said the future for Mexican gray wolves would be unclear even if Ladder Ranch wasn’t being forced to shut down its program.
The 18 or so free-roaming wolf packs in Arizona and New Mexico are slowly reproducing and reestablishing the species' numbers. Many of the wolves in the wild today were born in the wild, not captivity.
But every Mexican gray wolf alive today is descended from a severe genetic bottleneck formed when the species was down to seven individuals—a “genetic disaster” as Phillips sees it. So pups bred in captivity for release into the wild are crucial to restoring Mexican gray wolves, and any curb to those programs puts the whole species at risk.
“The clock is the Mexican wolves’ enemy,” Phillips told the commission before its controversial vote in early May. “Every generation that passes is a little less genetically robust then it was before the clock started.”
Why You Should Care
Wild wolves are revered by many as symbols of freedom, nature, and true grit. But the need for healthy populations of Mexican gray and other wolf species goes beyond appreciating their good looks and charisma. As apex predators, wolves sit at the top of the food chain, where they're crucial to ecosystem health. Wolf predation helps keep the populations of big herbivores like elk and deer, as well as small animals like mice and rabbits, in balance with the surrounding ecosystem.
DNA test on slain wolf-like canine may prompt probe of Colorado hunter
A licensed coyote hunter who killed a 90-pound canine near Kremmling may face prosecution, authorities said Monday, if tests prove it was a federally protected gray wolf.
If so, this would be the first confirmed wolf killed in Colorado since 2009. One was hit by a vehicle that year. Another was poisoned.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said a DNA analysis hasn't been completed.
The hunter, who has not been identified, thought the animal he shot April 29 was a coyote, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Matt Robbins said.
"He did everything right" in swiftly reporting the killing on federal land near Wolford Mountain Reservoir to CPW officials at Hot Sulphur Springs, Robbins said.
But under the Endangered Species Act, a hunter can be prosecuted for killing a protected species without a permit.
The Obama administration in 2013 proposed removing gray wolves from the endangered species list. USFWS wolf recovery coordinator Mike Jimenez said wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains are stable and may be spreading.
"By all biological criteria, wolves are recovered and there are no threats to the population," Jimenez said.
Mature males leave their packs, often migrating 60 miles, Jimenez said. USFWS biologists have recorded wolves dispersing over 500 miles.
In December, a man in Utah killed a wolf known widely among schoolchildren as Echo, saying he thought he was shooting at a coyote. The feds are investigating and weighing whether to file charges.
Wildlife advocates urged aggressive enforcement. Colorado officials must protect wolves, not just tolerate them, and notify residents they may be present, said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity.
Feds Consider Releasing Captive Mexican Gray Wolves into New Mexico: By the late 1970s, there were only seven Mexican gray wolves left on earth – a dangerously close encounter with extinction. Since the late 1990s, efforts have been underway to help recover this population. While the wolves once ranged widely from central Mexico throughout the southwestern U.S., today, recovery efforts are focused in Arizona and New Mexico where there is ample suitable habitat for this species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reintroduced several captive Mexican gray wolves into Arizona over the years, and at last count, there were 109 wolves living in the wild in the Southwest. To further aid in this species’ recovery, the USFWS is now proposing to release two captive Mexican gray wolves into the state of New Mexico. Defenders strongly believes that more wolves need to be released into the wild to increase this imperiled population’s genetic diversity, and the Gila National Forest in western New Mexico has ample suitable habitat for these wolves. Stay tuned for updates on this topic here.
Mexican gray wolf rally
Great Turnout on Rally For Mexican Gray Wolves: A big thanks to all of our Southwest members who were able to join us earlier this week as we rallied on the steps of the New Mexico capital for Mexican gray wolves. For 17 years, media giant and wildlife philanthropist, Ted Turner, has shared his New Mexico property to aid in Mexican gray wolf recovery efforts.
Turner’s Ladder Ranch property is important to wolf recovery because for 17 years, it’s provided large, fenced holding pens for Mexican gray wolves en route to or from the wild. However, earlier this month, Governor Martinez and her appointees on the New Mexico Game Commission announced they will not renew the permit to keep wolves there. This is a major road block for continued Mexican gray wolf recovery efforts. Thanks to our members, we were able to take a strong stand and raise the visibility of this issue. In total, more than 200 wolf supporters participated in our Monday rally, and several media outlets were present to document our efforts. This issue has garnered significant media attention and we are hopeful that our added pressure will turn the tide.
If you keep up on wolf
happenings in the news, you may have seen a headline or two about a
wolf that was killed by a vehicle on I-90 between North Bend and Snoqualmie,
just outside of Seattle. While this incident may seem trivial at first glance,
it’s really part of a much larger story on the history and future of wolf
conservation in Washington.
Eight years ago there wasn’t a single confirmed wolf in Washington – all had
been eradicated after decades of aggressive predator control programs, including
the poisoning and trapping of gray wolves. Endangered Species
Act protections ultimately changed all that and today there is a
population of at least 68 wolves in Washington. And until that discovery earlier
this month, all known wolves were confined to the eastern portion of the state
where they had safely migrated from adjacent Canada and Idaho after their
reintroduction in that state in the mid 90’s.
Wolves require large amounts of
acreage to roam and like most wild animals, they seek out new habitat as needed.
Those seeking a balanced future for wolves in the west have always hoped that
wolves would someday start moving from east to west in Washington to reclaim
vast, unoccupied and historic wolf habitat in areas of the state like the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and Olympic National Park.
The wolf killed on Interstate-90 is the first confirmed wolf to cross over
the Cascade Crest in Washington since they were wiped out in the state in the
1900s. So while the death of this wolf is tragic, it provides proof that wolves
are now dispersing into western Washington, a truly exciting development in
Washington’s ongoing wolf recovery story.
Yet while nature enthusiasts are thrilled by this sign of progress, a sad
animosity towards wolves in Washington has also surfaced. Wolves are too often
painted as “controversial” and worse even before they’ve gotten their foot in
the door in a given region. Northeastern Washington has become a hotbed for
anti-wolf groups who relentlessly spout falsehoods about wolves in the media.
Sadly, this anti-wolf rhetoric is now being echoed by some in the halls of
Congress.
In April, Representative Dan Newhouse (R-WA) co-sponsored a bill that would
delist gray wolves throughout Washington, Oregon and Utah. Even though wolves in
eastern Washington were congressionally delisted a few years ago, if federal
protections are removed for wolves in western Washington, it will be far more
difficult for wolves to move safely from east to west, which will make it much
harder for wolves to establish new populations and continue their recovery
within the state. But I think most would agree that we should leave scientific
questions about wildlife and wolf recovery to wildlife scientists and not in the
hands of Congress.
What we need to do is to learn how to live—“coexist”—alongside wolves. Based
on current research, that is something most Washingtonians are ready to do. This
means working with ranchers and livestock owners in western Washington to help
them implement on-the-ground nonlethal tools and strategies to reduce
livestock-wolf conflicts. And in several locations in eastern Washington, these
tools are already being used with great success by ranchers who see the value in
this proactive approach.
Wolves were once completely exterminated in Washington. Now we have a second
chance to conserve wolves and restore a vital part of our state’s natural
heritage. And, we have the tools and resources to get it done. While this lone
wolf’s death on I-90 may seem insignificant, his story signals a major benchmark
for just how far wolf recovery has come. In eight short years we’ve brought the
wolf population from zero to 68. Today, wolf recovery is no longer a distant
dream and we can legitimately envision wolves living in western Washington.
The future for wolves in Washington looks increasingly bright, but only if we
remain committed and act together to support their continued recovery.
The post Why One Wolf’s Death Is a Much Bigger Story appeared first on
Defenders of Wildlife
Blog.
The program, which operated for 17 years at a New Mexico ranch owned by billionaire media mogul Ted Turner, has successfully released around 100 of the nearly-extinct wolves back into the wild. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has called Ladder Ranch and two other pre-release facilities “integral” to Mexican wolf recovery efforts.
But now Ladder Ranch's part in Mexican gray wolf recovery is itself in danger of disappearing, and its supporters charge that the reason is opposition to any federal policy that seeks the recovery of wolves in the wild.
A controversial vote
On May 7, New Mexico's game and fish commissioners, all appointees of Governor Susanna Martinez, a Republican, withdrew state support for Mexican gray wolf recovery work at Turner’s Ladder Ranch.
For nearly two decades, the New Mexico game and fish commissioner routinely renewed Ladder Ranch’s permit. But this year, the commission raised new objections to the federal government's handling of the wolf's recovery.
“Our biggest issue is that there is no recovery plan in place,” said state game and fish director Alexa Sandoval during the May 7 meeting. “We don’t know what the end game is for the Mexican wolf population. And so at this point, the department is not in support of the Mexican Wolf Program.”
Michael Robinson, a wildlife conservation activist with the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, believes the commissioners are more motivated by a “vendetta” against the wolf species than the lack of a federal recovery plan.
“This group is appointed by Gov. (Susana) Martinez, who has put representatives from the Cattle Growers Association—whose primary goal is the eradication of predators—and representatives from Big Game Forever, in favor of removing all wolves from the wild,” Robinson said. Since federal wildlife policies aim “They’re trying to force policy change by depriving managers of the infrastructure they need to manage the wolves.”
The commission has not responded to requests for comment on its decision.
In an editorial, the Albuquerque Journal called the commission’s decision “petty” and “unproductive,” noting that it came despite enthusiastic public support of Ladder Ranch wolf recovery program. “Turner should be allowed to use his property as he wishes in cooperation with the federal government, and the commission shouldn’t flex its self-granted power to punish a private landowner to make a statement,” the paper stated.
The 156,000-acre ranch, set in pine forests in the foothills of New Mexico’s Gila Mountains, provides critical habitat and management for endangered animals such as the black-footed ferret, the bolson tortoise, and the Mexican gray wolf.
“We’re just a very small component of a ship,” said Mike Phillips, executive director of the Turner Ranch Endangered Species Fund, who has worked in wolf recovery for 35 years. “A ship that the commission feels doesn’t have a rudder, so they’ve decided to oppose the ship’s components, too.”
Dozens of different organizations have written to the governor in support of Ladder Ranch's wolf recovery program, said Robinson, but their requests to reverse the commission's decision have gone unacknowledged so far.
Back from the brinkLong hunted to prevent wolf kills of cattle and elk, Mexican gray wolves had almost vanished by the mid-1950s. Once numbering in the thousands in their historical range of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, the population was down to just seven animals by the time the species was given federal endangered species protections in 1976.
The federal government rounded up the seven last wild wolves to begin a captive breeding program, which has increased the Mexican gray wolf's numbers to 250 in captivity among some 55 facilities, including zoos, wildlife centers, and the three special “pre-release” centers that include Ladder Ranch.
Since 1998, when 11 Mexican gray wolves were released into Arizona and New Mexico, the population in the wild has grown to 109.
Still, nearly 40 years after gaining federal protections, the Mexican gray wolf has yet to get a full recovery plan. Federal wildlife officials have set a management “rule,” adjusted in January of this year, that increases the species' roaming area about 10 times from its 1998 level, and sets a goal of 300 to 325 wolves in the region.
But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has never established a target population that would trigger the end of federal endangered species status, which provided an opening for unsympathetic game commissioners when Ladder Ranch's permit came due for renewal.
“The million dollar question is, how many wolves are enough?” asked commissioner Thomas Salopek at the hearing. “100? 300? Is it going to be 500 or 1,000? I can’t go any further if we don’t have a known number.”
Sherry Barrett, Mexican wolf recovery coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, said that the agency is developing a formal recovery plan, but that no timetable has been set for finishing it.
A cloudy future
Phillips said the future for Mexican gray wolves would be unclear even if Ladder Ranch wasn’t being forced to shut down its program.
The 18 or so free-roaming wolf packs in Arizona and New Mexico are slowly reproducing and reestablishing the species' numbers. Many of the wolves in the wild today were born in the wild, not captivity.
But every Mexican gray wolf alive today is descended from a severe genetic bottleneck formed when the species was down to seven individuals—a “genetic disaster” as Phillips sees it. So pups bred in captivity for release into the wild are crucial to restoring Mexican gray wolves, and any curb to those programs puts the whole species at risk.
“The clock is the Mexican wolves’ enemy,” Phillips told the commission before its controversial vote in early May. “Every generation that passes is a little less genetically robust then it was before the clock started.”
Why You Should Care
Wild wolves are revered by many as symbols of freedom, nature, and true grit. But the need for healthy populations of Mexican gray and other wolf species goes beyond appreciating their good looks and charisma. As apex predators, wolves sit at the top of the food chain, where they're crucial to ecosystem health. Wolf predation helps keep the populations of big herbivores like elk and deer, as well as small animals like mice and rabbits, in balance with the surrounding ecosystem.
A licensed coyote hunter who killed a 90-pound canine near Kremmling may face prosecution, authorities said Monday, if tests prove it was a federally protected gray wolf.
If so, this would be the first confirmed wolf killed in Colorado since 2009. One was hit by a vehicle that year. Another was poisoned.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said a DNA analysis hasn't been completed.
The hunter, who has not been identified, thought the animal he shot April 29 was a coyote, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Matt Robbins said.
"He did everything right" in swiftly reporting the killing on federal land near Wolford Mountain Reservoir to CPW officials at Hot Sulphur Springs, Robbins said.
But under the Endangered Species Act, a hunter can be prosecuted for killing a protected species without a permit.
The Obama administration in 2013 proposed removing gray wolves from the endangered species list. USFWS wolf recovery coordinator Mike Jimenez said wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains are stable and may be spreading.
"By all biological criteria, wolves are recovered and there are no threats to the population," Jimenez said.
Mature males leave their packs, often migrating 60 miles, Jimenez said. USFWS biologists have recorded wolves dispersing over 500 miles.
In December, a man in Utah killed a wolf known widely among schoolchildren as Echo, saying he thought he was shooting at a coyote. The feds are investigating and weighing whether to file charges.
Wildlife advocates urged aggressive enforcement. Colorado officials must protect wolves, not just tolerate them, and notify residents they may be present, said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity.
A
war is raging. And the future of America’s wolves could depend on you.
They
are dying by the hundreds – shot, trapped, gunned down from helicopters, left to
die in snares.
And
now – in an effort to pander to anti-government ideologues and wolf-hating
extremists – Congress has introduced a series of bills that would force wolves
in seven states off the Endangered Species List.
If these bills pass, nearly every wolf
in the nation will be at the mercy of the states.
More
than 3,300 wolves, including mothers and helpless pups, have been killed since
Congress stripped wolves in the Northern Rockies of federal Endangered Species
Act protections.
I
know you care. And we need you now more than ever.
As
a special thank you, with any gift of $20 or more, we’ll send you a wolf beach
towel FREE that features the Defenders of Wildlife logo along with a beautiful
color image of a wolf.
There
have always been wolf-haters. Driven by fear, greed and superstition, they
exterminated wolves by the thousands. By the 1950s, wolves in the Lower 48 were
all but extinct.
Twenty
years ago, Defenders helped reintroduce wolves to the Northern Rockies. New
packs were born. As the 21st century dawned, wolves were making an historic
comeback.
But
now the wolf-haters are fighting back harder than ever – and they’re using
Congress to get their way. They’ve declared war on the very wolves we
worked so hard to restore.
Donate
today, and with your gift of only $20, you’ll receive our wolf beach
towel FREE!
Defenders
of Wildlife is America’s leading voice for wolves, panthers, manatees and other
imperiled wildlife. We are a dedicated team of field scientists, policy experts,
wildlife lawyers, lobbyists and advocates with a remarkable track record of
success.
But
we are only as strong as our base of supporters. People just like you.
A
war is raging. Won't you stand up to defend the defenseless?
