Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


7

Mexican Wolf Recovery Is Howling Flop

Share

(Newser) – A US effort to relocate endangered wolves along the Arizona-New Mexico border is actually rendering them extinct, the Los Angeles Times reports. Officials moved eleven Mexican gray wolves to the Gila National Forest in 1998, where managers are trapping, penning, and shooting the wolves to control their roaming and cattle-killing instincts. "We are witnessing the second extinction of the Mexican wolf in the wild," a conservation advocate says.

Wolves that move outside the 3.3-million-acre recovery zone are shipped back, disrupting their natural behavior. And any animal that mauls three cattle in a year—yes, a three strikes law—is killed. But the livestock industry, which says wolves have eaten 1,500 cows over 11 years, oppose letting the animals roam free. "It doesn't take you long to cook that formula and come up with a pretty explosive situation," a US official says.

A Mexican gray wolf in its pen in Hannagan Meadows, Ariz.
A Mexican gray wolf in its pen in Hannagan Meadows, Ariz.   (AP Photo/Jeff Robbins)
This undated file photo released by the US Fish and Wildlife Service shows a Mexican gray wolf leaving cover at the Seviellta National Wildlife Refuge, north of Soccorro, N.M.
This undated file photo released by the US Fish and Wildlife Service shows a Mexican gray wolf leaving cover at the Seviellta National Wildlife Refuge, north of Soccorro, N.M.   (AP Photo/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jim Clark, File)
A Mexican wolf pup tries to grab a piece of meat away from its mother at the Cincinnati Zoo. Mexican wolves were originally found in parts of the southwestern US and northern Mexico.
A Mexican wolf pup tries to grab a piece of meat away from its mother at the Cincinnati Zoo. Mexican wolves were originally found in parts of the southwestern US and northern Mexico.   (AP Photo/Tom Uhlman)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.24.09
Murdoch and Microsoft: The Mice Are Trying to Roar
11.23.09
Books Are Bad for You
7 comments
VIEWING:
 
OrderedChaos
Jul 26, 09 4:22 PM CDT
These ranchers are using Govt land to let their cattle roam and graze. I think a few head of cattle going to feed the wolves isn't too much a price to pay for the wolves continued survival. The wolves are not like humans, and will only attack and take down what they need to survive, not go into a wholesale slaughter. But, as with everything else, those who have the lobbies in Washington, and have paid off the correct govt agencies, get their way in the long run. RIP the mexican wolf. =( Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+8
IN RESPONSE:
Jayster999
Jul 26, 09 9:14 PM CDT
You don't know what you're talking about. Wolves will rip apart cows and sheep for sport. They don't just "take down what they need to survive", they destroy entire herds of elk and deer. You lefties sound off on this stuff and you have no idea what is really going on. Most of you live in urban areas and have no idea about the people and cultures outside your little world. You libs love to label and name-call and degrade others and at the end of the day, you think you are the tolerant ones. Nothing could be further than the truth. Liberals are the pompous, bigoted folks around.
Vote up! Vote down!
-3
IN RESPONSE:
anchower
Jul 27, 09 12:50 AM CDT
Wolves do not hunt for sport. Get the fuck out of here.
Vote up! Vote down!
+2
kyleleitch
Jul 26, 09 4:45 PM CDT
@OrderedChaos: inDEED. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+6
anchower
Jul 26, 09 6:36 PM CDT
Just pay these whiny ranchers for any cattle that get killed. I'm sure 136 steer a year are cheaper than monitoring the wolves constantly. And it's not like you don't already throw away billions of dollars a year propping up Big Food. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+6

View all 7 comments »

LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

17 Stories

 Humpback 
 Whales May Lose 
 Endangered Tag 

Some 60K animals believed to be alive today

Nov 6, 09 11:55 AM CST
(Newser) - In attempt to determine whether the humpback whales still need to be saved, the government is reviewing the marine mammals' place on the endangered species list for the first time in a decade. The results look promising: “They appear to be coming back pretty strongly in most of the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
endangered species • conservation • whale • humpback whale • endangered species list • Endangered Species Act • National Marine Fisheries Service

 Scots Move to 
 Save Rare 
 Wildcats 

Experts warn that only 400 of the unique predators remain

May 5, 09 5:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - Scotland has launched a program to save the last of its rare Scottish wildcats, the BBC reports. Experts warn that fewer than 400 of the unique cats—endangered by persecution, habitat loss, and interbreeding with domestic cats—are believed to remain. Officials are seeking to raise awareness, encourage the neutering... More »

MORE ABOUT:
endangered species • conservation • Scotland • wildlife • wildcat • cat

 A Third of America's
Bird Species in Trouble


Development sending large numbers of native species into decline

Mar 20, 09 4:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - Almost a third of America's bird species are in peril from habitat destruction and other threats, according to a federal report released yesterday. The study, which may spur the Obama administration to increase regulation in some areas to protect the animals, found that  67 of America's over 800 bird species... More »

MORE ABOUT:
endangered species • environment • conservation • birds • wildlife • threatened species • Obama administration

17 Stories


US 
TwitterFollow @NewserUS on Twitter

 
endangered species • conservation • Southwest • livestock • cattle industry • wolves

from our news partners