Effective immediately, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has authorized a lethal take order for three Mexican gray wolves, all members of the Francisco Pack. These wolves, as are all Mexican wolves reintroduced under the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Program, are part of a nonessential, experimental population. This designation allows for flexibility for managing wolves in conflict situations, including lethal take.
During the past several weeks it was confirmed that four livestock depredations were committed by the pack. Immediately following the first confirmed depredation on April 29, the Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team began aversion tactics to haze the wolves from the Rainey Mesa area of the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico.
"Despite our best efforts these wolves continued to kill livestock and that is unacceptable," said Southwest Regional Director H. Dale Hall. "Wolves that repeatedly depredate endanger the recovery of the species as a whole."
Usually hazing or moving problem wolves away from livestock into other areas minimizes future conflicts. "These efforts have failed in this case, making lethal means the most responsive method to address the needs of those economically affected by wolf recovery," said Hall. "The behavior of these wolves has left us with no effective alternative."
Lethal control of wolves is authorized under the Mexican gray wolf Final Rule.
The current free-ranging population of Mexican wolves consists of a minimum of 50 animals. There are an additional estimated 260 wolves in over 45 facilities in the United States and Mexico in the captive breeding program.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 Fish and Wildlife Management offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
-22.
For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, visit our home page at
