Photo Credit: EssjayNZ via Compfight cc

“It would be easier to take (a) government payoff for every wolf kill than it would be to go out there and actually herd.  But in my opinion that doesn’t solve the problem,” said Wilma Jenkins in the June 4, 2012 story on KUNM (89.9 Albuquerque) about Mexican gray wolf reintroduction in Arizona and New Mexico.

Most of the stories I hear on the radio or read in the newspaper focus on ranchers and their adamant opposition to wolf reintroduction, so when I heard Jenkins’ comment I wanted find out more about the way she operated her ranch.

Wilma Jenkins and Doug Dressler’s Double Circle Ranch* is located near Clifton, Arizona in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests within the  designated recovery area for the Mexican gray wolves.   The ranch doesn’t have telephone service so we communicated via emails (June, 2012 and August, 2013).

Jenkins ran a herd of Texas longhorns and never lost one to a wolf.  She says her cattle seemed to be more intimidating to predators who look for weak prey.  “Longhorns can defend themselves,” but according to Jenkins the real key is herding.  She herded her cattle six days a week on horseback with a dog or two, allowing no stragglers.  That kept the scent of humans on the cattle and deterred the wolves.

Jenkins herded not only to discourage predators, but also for range health.  The benefits included “. . .reduced erosion, improved air and water quality and wildlife habitat.”  Having more wildlife present on the ranch meant “more than cows to eat for the wolves and other predators.”

When Mexican gray wolf reintroduction began fifteen years ago, the programs to help ranchers primarily focused on compensation for livestock killed by the wolves.  Over time the emphasis has shifted to programs that strive to minimize wolf/livestock encounters using management techniques that include herding, rotating pasture usage, and flagging fences to scare off the wolves.  The Double Circle did not qualify for funds to help with those costs since they had not suffered any wolf kills according to Jenkins, so they had   “. . . to pay or herd on our own time and dime—which I don’t think is fair—but that is how it is set up.” 

Jenkins considers that to be the negative impact of wolf reintroduction.  She says “ . . . many people are dead set against the wolf and resent being forced to have them on their land.  Many livestock costs are not covered in the compensation—like our herding, stress to breeding animals, etc.”

The positive benefits, she hopes, will be that the wolves keep the elk moving, which is beneficial to the riparian environment, critical areas for soil conservation next to rivers and streams that have been overgrazed.  As for the humans involved, she says, “People from opposite viewpoints are cooperating for a common goal—always a good thing.”

When I asked her in our most recent correspondence if attitudes were changing in her community she responded, “People seem to accept the wolves as part of the ecosystem now–but most are opposed to adding more wolves at this time.” 

*Jenkins and Dressler sold the Double Circle Ranch in November of 2012. 

Photo Credit: Albuquerque BioPark via Compfight cc

M1275, a male wolf born into the Bluestem pack last year, is pictured in this video.  Arizona Game and Fish biologists trapped the pup in August of 2012.  During the brief capture, they took a blood sample to determine parentage and administered vaccinations for parvo, distemper, and rabies.  Before release they outfitted the pup with a radio telemetry collar to allow the field team to track him.

As shown in this video, the field team takes precautions to minimize trauma to the wolf in the trapping process, but it doesn’t always go as planned.  In a similar operation in August of this year another Bluestem wolf, f1289, died after a difficult capture.  Results of a necropsy to determine the cause of death are still pending.

Of the estimated 75 Mexican gray wolves living in the wild, 44 wear radio telemetry collars according to the most recent Monthly Project Update issued September 12, 2013.  Weekly flights monitor the wolves’ locations and the information is used to determine denning behavior (the alpha female travels less and stays in one area) during breeding season and pack status (a wolf begins to travel separately from the pack).   It can also be used to investigate and assign responsibility to a specific wolf or pack when cattle or other livestock are killed.

M1275, now considered a juvenile, still runs with the Bluestem Pack and was recently recaptured and outfitted with a new collar.

Note:  A public hearing about proposed rule changes in the Mexican gray wolf reintroduction program scheduled for Friday, October 4th, in Albuquerque has been postponed indefinitely due to the partial government shutdown earlier this week. 

Update (10/13/13)–Roxane at Lobos of the Southwest let me know that the Bluestem pups born in 2012 were given names in a contest late last year.  The two mentioned above were named Huckleberry (m1275) and Little Wild (f1289).

Photo Credit: Eric Kilby via Compfight cc

In my last post about the Bluestem Pack  I had confirmed with Susan Dicks at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) that the alpha female F1042 had a new litter of pups.  This was surprising since her longtime mate, M806, was killed about a year ago. So far,  not much is known about her current mate, the new alpha male of the pack.

During July and August the known (collared) members of the pack. according to the Monthly Project Updates, were F1042 and three yearlings (m1275, f1280, and f1289).  Another yearling, m1277, began traveling alone and is no longer considered part of the pack.  The field team confirmed with trail cameras in July that six pups had been born in the spring.

In mid-August they attempted to capture the alpha male and pups so they could be outfitted with radio collars.  During that operation they trapped f1289 who died during processing.  FWS will perform a necropsy determine the cause of the wolf’s death.

The Bluestem Pack’s traditional territory is in the east-central portion of the Apache-Sitegreaves National Forest.  Each week, weather permitting, the IFT has a pilot fly a radio telemetry flight to locate each of the collared wolves.  They travel constantly so the report that is issued after the flight is immediately outdated, but it is still a look at where the wolves are at a given time.  The September 17th report located the pack about four miles northwest of Tenney Mountain and four miles southwest of Noble Mountain. 

The telemetry report also indicated that some of the pups-of-the-year had been trapped and collared.  There are two females fp1332 and fp1333 and two males mp1330 and mp1331.

Summer turned to autumn last weekend.  In Rutter and Pimlott’s book The World of the Wolf  they call fall  ” . . . the most carefree season in the life of the wolf.  The responsibility connected with raising pups is over; the breeding season is still months ahead; there is no snow to make hard work of travel; the weather is neither too cold nor too hot, and food is plentiful.”

While the Bluestem Pack ranges through the forests and meadows of the Apache-Sitgreaves,  humans will be debating their future.  A public hearing will be held in Albuquerque on October 4th to discuss proposed rule changes to the reintroduction program.