Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Effort Resumes in Arizona

PHOENIX —  Mexican gray wolves once again headed into the wilds of Arizona on Friday, another attempt to reintroduce the endangered species to the region’s forested mountains even as officials look for ways to protect them from humans.

“The news is we are continuing the wolf reintroduction program because wolves belong in the wild, not in zoos,” said Hans Stuart, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Albuquerque, N.M.

Biologists released one pair of wolves in far eastern Arizona on Friday morning, and another pair about noon.

The two males had been in the wild before. They were initially released in March, but were recaptured several weeks ago to be paired with two new females brought to Apache National Forest and held in acclimation pens.

The two females, both born in zoos, were raised at a southern New Mexico ranch funded by media mogul Ted Turner.

The wolves, also called lobos, were driven to near extinction by the 1970s. There are only 187 Mexican gray wolves left. All but the four released Friday are in captivity--either in zoos or breeding facilities in Mexico and the United States.

Of 11 wolves released in the spring, five were shot to death, one is missing and presumed dead and three others had to be recaptured. Only the two re-released on Friday remained.

Four of the shooting deaths have not been solved, and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has said he believes the shootings are acts of sabotage.

Barbara Marks, a rancher in the Alpine area, said that area residents don’t want the wolves returned and fear the wolves will attack their livestock or their pets. “We hope they come to their senses and that the American public will say enough is enough. Let’s just stop the program,” she said.

The wolves released Friday were sent out with fluorescent yellow or orange spots on their thighs and fluorescent collars to keep hunters from mistaking them for coyotes, which can be legally shot without a permit.

Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Tucson-based Southwest Center for Biological Diversity, said he remains concerned that the markers may actually put the wolves in greater jeopardy.

“I think it’s a mistake to paint big ‘shoot me’ signs on them,” he said.

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