Plan announced for 2014 Mexican wolf releases in Arizona

PHOENIX – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and the Arizona Game and
Fish Department (AGFD) have initiated actions for the release of two Mexican wolves in
Arizona to replace wolves illegally shot, as directed by the Arizona Game and Fish
Commission in 2012 and to increase the genetic diversity of the wild population.
The Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team (IFT) tasked with the day-to-day
management of the wild population captured two wild males during the January winter
population count. M1249 was taken to the Service’s Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility
in New Mexico and is paired with a captive female wolf. M1290 was paired with a captive
female wolf and is being held in a release pen in the Apache National Forest.
Neither of the male wolves has documented involvement in livestock depredations
or nuisance behavior, making the animals good candidates for pairing with a captive
female and subsequent release. Both wolf pairs are being observed for breeding
behavior and will be released into the primary recovery zone in Arizona in the spring
prior to giving birth.
“This is one of the important steps in Game and Fish’s commitment to replace the
four wolves lost to illegal causes between 2011 and 2013. One of the key considerations
when the options were evaluated was to improve population genetics, which is important
to the long-term survival of the subspecies,” said Jim deVos, the Arizona Game and Fish
Department’s assistant director for wildlife management.
An additional option to replace wolves illegally shot and to increase the genetic
diversity of the wild population – cross fostering wolf pups born in captivity into a wild
wolf pack litter – still remains under consideration and will be evaluated in the future.
“The pairing of genetically valuable females with males with wild experience
accomplishes two goals, adding genetically valuable genes into the population and
replacing wolves that were taken illegally,” said Benjamin Tuggle, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service’s Southwest Regional Director. “If these pairs successfully establish
themselves in the wild, they will increase population numbers immediately and will
contribute to a more genetically robust population in the future.”
2014 Mexican wolf releases Page 2 of 2
In 2013, the IFT attempted the release or translocation of two pairs of wolves and a
single wolf into the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area. A single male was released into
Arizona and recaptured in New Mexico shortly after release for displaying nuisance
behavior. Plans to release a pair of wolves in Arizona were halted when another pack
displayed territorial aggression and threatened the safety of the new pair. That pair was
returned to captivity. In addition, a pair of wolves was translocated into the Gila
Wilderness of New Mexico. However, the male dispersed outside of the recovery area
boundary and was recaptured, and the female was later legally shot and killed on private
land in the act of killing livestock.
Release sites will be chosen based on several factors including appropriate prey
density, distance from occupied residences, seasonal absence of livestock grazing, and
occurrence of established wolf packs in the area.
The Mexican wolf population is estimated to be at least 83 animals, the highest
number of wolves since the reintroduction began in 1998.
The Reintroduction Project partners are AGFD, White Mountain Apache Tribe, USDA
Forest Service and USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service – Wildlife
Services, several participating counties in Arizona, the Eastern Arizona Counties
Organization, and the Service.