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For Immediate Release
Latest Mexican wolf survey shows consistent population decline
A decade of political pressure and an inadequate plan derailing wolf recovery
TUCSON, Ariz. - The 2007 Mexican wolf population survey found just 52 individual wolves and 4 breeding pairs in the wild, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced today. These numbers are down 12% and 43% respectively from last year’s survey of 59 wolves and 7 breeding pairs. These numbers fall far short of population goals set in the reintroduction plan for this species. The population has declined for three of the last four years, raising new concerns about the Bush administration’s commitment to fulfilling its obligation to recover this critically endangered species.
“We have the unique opportunity to revive an important part of the ‘Old West’, but we are letting this chance slip away. The Fish and Wildlife Service places more emphasis on removing ‘problem’ wolves than it does on solving problems and recovering the wolf. It is failing in its duty to bring the lobo back from the brink of extinction,” says Eva Sargent, director of the southwest program for Defenders of Wildlife.
The Mexican gray wolf, or lobo, once roamed throughout the Southwest, but by the early 1970s, the lobo had been almost completely exterminated. In 1976, the lobo was listed as an endangered species, and shortly thereafter the few remaining wolves were brought into a captive-breeding program involving FWS and more than 40 North American zoos. In 1998, FWS reintroduced three family groups of wolves into the Apache National Forest in eastern Arizona. Despite ten years of effort, today the lobo is one of the most endangered mammals in North America.
“Bringing Mexican gray wolves back has been a real source of pride for many people in the Southwest, but if we want to see our efforts truly succeed, we need to sit down and come up with new management strategies. Clearly, we must make serious changes to get Mexican wolves back on track toward a full recovery in the wild. If we don’t change course, the Fish and Wildlife Service will find itself presiding over the second extinction of the lobo in the wild,” said Sargent.
Given the perilously low numbers of Mexican wolves now left in the wild, Defenders of Wildlife believes that the killing or permanent removal of any more wolves should be a last resort. Defenders is calling on FWS to increase its use of alternative approaches to wolf management, including proactive techniques to reduce conflicts between wolves and livestock, such as using special fencing, relocating livestock during denning season and hazing wolves away from livestock.
Defenders has recently hired a full-time field staffer whose sole responsibility will be to work proactively with ranchers and communities to prevent conflicts with wolves through projects like fencing, guard dogs, herders and livestock relocation.
“We’re putting our money where our mouth is,” said Sargent, “Now the Fish and Wildlife Service needs to join us in being creative instead of reactive.”
“Saving the Mexican wolf is most certainly not a question of ‘can we do it?’ It’s a question of ‘will we finally take responsibility and just do it?’ It’s time to put some of that western know-how and grit to use and get down to the real work of saving this wonderful but critically endangered animal,” said Sargent.
Defenders of Wildlife has created a chart comparing the first 10 years of wolf recovery efforts in the northern Rockies and the Southwest. The chart illustrates the stark differences between the healthy gray wolf population increases in the north and the fluctuating, struggling population of the Mexican wolf in the south.
Learn more about what Defenders is doing to save wolves in the Southwest.
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Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities. With more than 1 million members and activists, Defenders of Wildlife is a leading advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard our wildlife heritage for generations to come. For more information, visit www.defenders.org.
