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The Politics of Los Lobos
A historic day and a victory for wolf conservation efforts, on March 4, 1997, Interior Secretary Babbitt signed the final record of decision approving the reintroduction of the Mexican wolf to Arizona and New Mexico. Since that time, free ranging Mexican wolves have been laying claim to their ancestral lands in the forests and mesas of eastern Arizona.
Mexican wolf restoration has been in process since 1982 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) finalized the Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan, jointly signed by the United States and Mexico. In December of that year, the USFWS issued its Final Environmental Impact Statement regarding the Mexican wolf restoration project.
All Mexican wolves released under the proposed alternatives of the Final Environmental Impact Statement come from the certified U.S. captive population. The primary recovery objective is to reestablish 100 wild wolves distributed over more than 5,000 square miles by the year 2005 consistent with the 1982 Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan. A federal regulation designates the population to be released as "experimental and non-essential" to the continued existence of the subspecies. This "Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Rule" delineates the precise geographic boundaries and prescribes the protective measures and management authority that apply.
Defenders of Wildlife, a nonprofit, D.C.-based conservation group, established a $100,000 Wolf Compensation Trust and will pays ranchers for any verified livestock losses due to reintroduced wolves. For the past several decades, the only place to see a live Mexican wolf has been in a zoo. Most people in the Southwest agree that it is not right and not natural. Public support throughout the Southwest for wolf reintroduction was overwhelming just prior to reintroduction, just as it was for Yellowstone wolf restoration. However, there are concerns from ranchers about potential livestock losses, but most residents realize the important ecological benefits that will come from having the Mexican wolf back in its rightful home. (Source: Defender's Press Release dated 3/4/97).
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One of the rarest land mammals in the world, the Mexican wolf is the southern most and one of the smallest sub-species of the North American Gray Wolf. They formerly ranged throughout central and southeastern Arizona, central and southern New Mexico, all of west Texas and central New Mexico. Adults weigh from 50 to 90 pounds, averaging 4 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 6 inches in total length and reach 26 to 32 inches in height at its shoulder. Its pelt color varies. The "Lobo" - its popular name - is genetically distinct from other wolves and no confirmed population exists outside captivity. International experts rate recovery of the Mexican wolf subspecies as the highest priority of all Gray Wolf recovery programs. Studies of DNA have shown they are not contaminated with genetic material from coyotes or other strains as some feared, and are in fact the most genetically distinct North American wolf breed - strongly supporting their classification as a distinct subspecies. (see Garcia-Moreno, J., Matocq, M.D., Roy, M.S., Geffen, E. & Wayne, R. K. (1996), Relationships and Genetic Purity of the Endangered Mexican Wolf Based on Analysis of Microsatellite Loci. Conservation Biology. 10: 376-389.) |
The objectives of the Species Survival Plan are to establish a captive population of about 240 animals including at least 17 breeding pairs. The Final Environmental Impact Statement calls for a wild population of at least 100 animals in the primary recovery zone, the Blue Mountain Range on the Arizona, New Mexico Border. The current captive population of only 215 animals exists at a total of 40 facilities across the United States and Mexico. There are three lineages of Mexican wolf in the captive population diversifying the gene pool. These lineages include: The McBride, Ghost Ranch and the Aragon lines.
A conditioning facility for Mexican wolves has been built at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge near Soccoro, New Mexico. The purpose of the facility is to condition wolves for living in the wild in the Southwest. The Sevilleta site consists of five pens ranging in size from one-quarter to three quarters of an acre. The pens surround a central sixth pen about one and one-half acres in size. The facility is an extremely remote and excluded area. Wolves are chosen to stay at the facility based on variables such as their genetic make-up and tolerance of human contact.
Wolves stay approximately 6 months or longer at the Sevilleta Facility. Those in that facility then chosen for release are placed in pre-release enclosures at the actual reintroduction area. This is known as a "soft release" which means wolves are held for a period of time to allow them to adjust to their surrounding so they do not immediately leave the reintroduction zone upon their release back into the wild. ( Source: Final Environmental Impact Statement).
Significantly, the White Mountain Apache Tribe (WMAT) has given the green light to Mexican wolf recovery on tribal lands. The 1.6-million acre Fort Apache Indian Reservation is on the western boundary of the recovery area, is excellent wolf habitat, and is an important piece to the overall recovery plans. The WMAT has agreed to allow up to 30 wolves on reservation lands. Recently, Mexican wolves were released on these reservation lands!
The History of the Mexican Wolf
In 1976, the Mexican wolf was listed as an endangered subspecies under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973. Between 1976 and 1980, field surveys were conducted in Mexico and five wolves were removed from the wild to start a captive breeding program. In 1982, the federal wildlife agencies in the United States and Mexico approved and signed the Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan. This plan currently under revision outlines the actions necessary to recover the Mexican wolf in the wild. Key in this plan is the reestablishment of wild populations from captive-raised wolves. In 1990, the IUCN/SSC/CBSG held a Population Viability Assessment (PVA) workshop at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. The PVA was repeated and revised in 1995 as part of the recovery plan revision.
From the original five wolves captured by Roy McBride between 1977 and 1980, the captive population grew to 107 wolves by 1995. This population was managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service until 1985 and then by a consortium of holders of Mexican wolves called the Mexican Wolf Captive Management Committee. Since 1993 the population in the United States has been managed through the AZA's Species Survival Plan (SSP). The captive population in Mexico is managed by the federal wildlife agency, the Instituto Nacional de Ecologia in the Secretaria. del Medio Ambiente Recursos Naturales y Pesca.
Two other lineages of captive wolves have recently been added to the Mexican wolf studbook. The "Ghost Ranch" lineage is derived from two wolves taken from the wild in 1959 and 1961. The "Aragon" lineage is derived from wolves originating at the Chapultepec Zoo in the mid-1970s. The wild origin of the Aragon lineage's ancestors is not known, but it is thought that they are unrelated to either the Ghost Ranch lineage or the McBride lineage. The Ghost Ranch lineage was not previously included in the studbook because of unsubstantiated claims that the founding sire was a wolf/dog hybrid. The Aragon lineage was not previously included in the studbook because the wild origin of the founders was not known and determination of wolf subspecies by morphological means alone was not generally accepted. Genetic investigations of all three lineages were initiated to resolve these and other genetic questions. Phil Hedrick of Arizona State University and the Genetics Committee of the Mexican Wolf Recovery Team reviewed this research and concluded that all three lineages were pure Canis lupus baileyi. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officially accepted this opinion in July of 1995 as did the Mexican wolf SSP at its annual meeting at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. At that time the Ghost Ranch lineage was composed of 25 wolves and the Aragon lineage of eight wolves. These two lineages were combined with the McBride lineage in the 1995 International Studbook. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department have been involved in evaluating sites in the United States for potential reestablishment of Mexican wolves. These evaluations have resulted in proposals to reestablish the Mexican wolf in the Blue Range Area of east-central Arizona and the White Sands Missile Range Area of south-central New Mexico. The final decision was to release three family groups in the Apache Forest in Arizona at Campbell Blue, Hawks Nest and Turkey Creek.
The mission of the Mexican Wolf SSP is to support the reestablishment of the Mexican wolf in the wild through captive breeding, public education and research.
Special Concerns
The major problems facing the SSP are holding space limitations and the limited number of founders. The SSP is aggressively promoting participation by North American zoos. Finding additional founders seems unlikely. Prior to the first release in March, 1998, a Mexican wolf has not been confirmed in the wild since 1980. Field surveys in Mexico and the United States over the past few years have not been able to confirm any of the many unsubstantiated reports of wild wolves. (Source: 1996 Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan Annual Report).
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Visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:
