SILVER CITY, N.M. - Three Mexican
gray wolves that were part of a federal reintroduction
program have been found dead in New Mexico and Arizona.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service would not say how
the wolves died, but the carcasses are being tested, said
acting program coordinator Colleen Buchanan.
"All of them are under investigation," she
said. "It's definitely a blow to be losing all these
animals."
An alpha female from the Saddle Pack was found dead in
Arizona on Sept. 15.
The pack was the most genetically valuable in the wild
because of its lineage, Buchanan said.
The female had four pups when she died. Their survival is
uncertain, Buchanan said.
An uncollared male wolf was found dead Sept. 19 on the
northern edge of the Gila Wilderness Area. The wolf was born
in the wild and had never been in captivity.
The third wolf, an alpha male from the Francisco Pack,
was found dead off U.S. Highway 180 near Silver City on
Wednesday, she said.
Michael Robinson with the Center for Biological Diversity
said there is a good chance the wolves were shot.
"It appears all three will eventually be confirmed
as illegal mortality," he said.
Many ranchers and residents of southwestern New Mexico
and southeastern Arizona have opposed the reintroduction
program.
The number of collared wolves in the wild is in the 20s
and the total wild population is estimated in the 50s or
60s, Buchanan said.
Despite protests from ranchers, wolves were first
released by the government in March 1998 in Apache-Sitgreaves
National Forest on the Arizona side of the border with New
Mexico.
