U.S. OKs killing of wolves in Gila forest
A pack of endangered Mexican gray wolves in New Mexico’s Gila National Forest has developed a fatal appetite for livestock. After killing four animals in the last few weeks, the trio of wolves is slated for termination.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service authorized a kill order amid growing anxiety among ranchers in the Gila as calving season leaves herds vulnerable.
“When we have a fourth confirmed depredation of a cow, we order a lethal take,” says Elizabeth Slown, spokeswoman at the agency’s regional office in Albuquerque.
Wildlife officers tried scaring off the wolves with rubber bullets and noisemakers, but the pack, which normally feeds on speedy elk and deer, continued to prey on the cattle.
The wolves are part of a program to reestablish the species in the southern Rockies. The program has boosted the Mexican gray wolf population in Arizona and New Mexico from zero to 50 since 1998.
An eleventh-hour reprieve may still be in store. One of the wolves, a male yearling, was captured in a live trap and relocated to a breeding program. The remaining two wolves will be killed on sight, unless they wander into similar traps, in which case they will be relocated.
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Joe Robinson
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