Tag Archives: Mexican gray wolf

Here’s to Endangered Species Day!

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My first visit this year to the Albuquerque BioPark was a few weeks ago on a sunny April Saturday. Lots of other folks had the same idea so I couldn’t stand and watch the resident Mexican wolves as long as I would have liked. I did get this short video before I had to give up my viewing spot to another visitor.

While taking photos a little girl next to me asked, “What’s he doing?” but she was not satisfied with my response, “Oh, just walking around.” She thought about it a minute and came up with a more satisfactory answer, “He’s looking for prey.”

Although it was a little early for pups, I was hoping to get an idea of whether or not there might be a new litter at the zoo this spring. What I saw was three adult wolves in the public display.

In an email exchange with Lynn Tupa, the BioPark manager, I learned that Archer (born at the zoo in 2019) and two females were the wolves I saw. Four sibling wolves are also at the zoo but are off-exhibit and are not visible to the public. No breeding was recommended for any of these wolves so no pups this year. To prevent unintended pregnancy, female wolves are implanted with birth control.

A few days after my visit, the ABQ BioPark issued this press release which included exciting news for the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program–a new large, off-exhibit habitat will be built, construction starting this spring. Once complete it will enable the BioPark to increase its efforts in the wolf surrogacy program. Surrogacy is a big part of the recovery effort and focuses on breeding Mexican wolves in captivity and placing pups into the dens of wild wolves to be raised along with their own pups.

The most recent survey of Mexican wolves living in the wild indicated a population of 257 wolves.

Wolf News: the good, the bad, and the worrisome

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One way to grasp the main perspectives of environment and biodiversity is to understand the origins and precious nature of a single living form, a single manifestation of the miracle of existence; if one has truly understood a crane–or a leaf or a cloud or a frog–one has understood everything.
–Peter Matthiessen The Birds of Heaven

Photo Credit: Mark Dumont via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: Mark Dumont viamot Compfight cc

One evening last week the Mexican Wolf Blue Range Reintroduction Project Monthly Update landed in my email inbox.  Part newsletter, part report card,  it often reads like a dry government report, but study it carefully and it comes alive, providing a glimpse into the life of a wolf.

When it arrived  I  stopped what I was doing and scrolled to the section called Mortalities.  In good months there are none, but that wasn’t the case in November.  An alpha male was “located dead in Arizona”.  No details provided, but the most likely cause of death for  a wild wolf  is being shot (illegally) or hit by a vehicle.

Also included are  individual summaries or report cards, for each pack.  They are based on weekly telemetry flights that pinpoint the locations of the radio-collared wolves and field observations (gathered both in person on the ground and  from motion-sensitive trail cameras).

Nineteen packs (primarily made up of multi-generational families) are currently living in the reintroduction area which includes the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests  and the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona and the Gila National Forest in New Mexico.  Below is a brief look at two of the packs.

The Bluestem Pack This family has long been established in the central part of the Apache-Sitgreaves.  The current alpha pair has been together for a few years and has raised several litters of pups.  The pack is large right now–thirteen–with juveniles and pups  (born in 2013 and 2014, respectively) running with the parents.  The juveniles may soon start to disperse to try to find mates and establish new territories.

Rarely has this family of wolves gotten into trouble, but in November they killed a cow.  The sequence of events after the depredation probably went something like this.  A rancher found one of his cows dead and reported it to the field team overseeing the reintroduction program.  They investigated the carcass, determined that a wolf had made the kill, and probably had a pretty good idea which pack was responsible, but used the telemetry reports for confirmation.  Often they will identify a specific wolf or wolves, but in this case they did not, reporting only that it was “adults and juveniles in the Bluestem Pack”.

The Hawks Nest Pack This is a new family of wolves related to the Bluestem Pack–the alpha female was part of their 2012 litter.  They have established a territory further north in the Apache-Sitgreaves and are raising their first litter, the grandpups of the Bluestem Pack’s  alpha pair. The only news for this pack in November was that the field team confirmed two more pups in addition  to the one that was captured and collared a few months ago.

It will be a week or two into the new year before the next update is issued.  In the meantime the only way to keep track of the Bluestem and Hawks Nest wolves will be via the sporadically published telemetry reports.

Meet the Mexican Gray Wolf – A Short Video

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My very first post in July of 2013 was about Mexican gray wolves.  I have continued to write about them every few weeks, telling the stories of one family of wolves, the Bluestem Pack, that runs, hunts and raises their pups in the  White Mountains of Arizona.

Photo Credit: Rebecca Bose

Photo Credit: Rebecca Bose

Although the Bluestem Pack continues to thrive after living in the wild for over twelve years, the survival of the rare Mexican wolf (a cousin to the gray wolves of Yellowstone) is still in doubt. At the last official count there were only 83 of them living in a portion of their historical habitat in New Mexico and Arizona.

I recently found this video called Meet the Mexican Gray Wolf on Facebook.  Prepared by Sawtooth Legacy Films, it is a good concise introduction to the Mexican wolf. In less than three minutes it tells more about the endangered mammals in pictures and videos than I could in a thousand words.

In late November The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued a draft Environmental Impact Study (EIS) proposing changes to the Mexican wolf recovery effort.  At more than 500 pages it’s not a quick read–more about that in an upcoming post.

In the meantime Lobos of the Southwest keeps their website and Facebook page updated daily with links to the USFWS documents, information on where and how to comment, and the most recent articles and letters to the editor concerning Mexican wolf recovery.

Bluestem Pack – Summer 2014 Update

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As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back;
For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.
Rudyard Kipling

Photo Credit: James Zeschke via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: James Zeschke via Compfight cc

The Bluestem Pack still runs in the White Mountains of Arizona–twelve years after the original family of wolves was released into the wild.  Last week a telemetry flight located the alpha pair, AF1042 and AM1341, and five pups born in 2013 a few miles south of Noble Peak. It appears they probably also have new pups, born in the spring of this year.

When I last wrote an update back in April, little was known about AM1341.  A few months after the Bluestem’s prior alpha male, AM806, was illegally shot in the summer of 2012, an unidentified male began traveling with the pack.  In January, 2014 he was  captured, collared, and assigned a studbook number, but it took a  genetics test to  confirm that he was the father of last year’s pups.

The pack has gotten into some trouble over the last two months.  One of the 2013 pups, f1332, has been traveling alone for several weeks and in June killed a calf.  A second incident occurred in mid-July when a wolf injured two horses; telemetry reports confirmed that it was AF1042, the alpha female.

Most of the Bluestem Pack’s 2012 pups (the last litter fathered by AM806) have perished, but one, F1280, survives and has become the alpha female of the Hawks Nest Pack.  The two wolves (AF1280 and AM1038) have established their territory in the north-central portion of the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona and were recently located a few miles west of Gobbler Peak.  In late July the field team documented the alpha pair howling accompanied by one or two pups.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted  public hearings last week  in Arizona and New Mexico  to take comments on  proposed  changes to the rule that governs the management of the small population of Mexican wolves  that live in the wild.  Fish and Wildlife’s final decision, expected in January,  will greatly impact the odds that today’s pups will be able to find mates and establish territories–to survive and thrive.

I attended the meeting in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico on Wednesday night and the comments mostly favored the lobos, but they still have a long way to go.  I’ll write more about the proposed rule changes and the  hearing in upcoming posts.

Welcome to Wolf Week!

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Yes, it’s true.  I borrowed the idea from the Discovery Channel, but I promise no snarling, growling, menacing wolves here.

Mexican Gray Wolf at Wildlife West Nature Park Photo Credit: Paula Nixon

Mexican Gray Wolf at Wildlife West Nature Park
Photo Credit: Paula Nixon

It’s a big week for the Mexican gray wolves native to the Southwest with two public hearings scheduled to discuss their future.  The first will be held in Pinetop, Arizona tonight, the second in Truth or Consequences (T or C), New Mexico on Wednesday night.  US Fish and Wildlife officials will conduct both hearings, giving the public an opportunity to voice their opinions about  proposed rule changes to the reintroduction program, which has allowed the wolves to be reintroduced into their historic range over the last sixteen years.  This recent article in the Arizona Republic provides more details.

Stay tuned for the story of Ernesta, a female wolf recently re-released to the wild with a new mate and pups; an update on the Bluestem Pack, successfully living in the wild for twelve years; and the tale of a road trip to T or C.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can You Hear A Wolf Howl in Downtown Chicago?

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Photo Credit: P. Nixon

Photo Credit: P. Nixon

Does not the heart need
wildness?
Does not the thought need
something
to rest upon
not self-made by man?
Margaret Tsuda
From “Hard Questions”

The words stayed with me as I departed Regenstein Wolf Woods at the Brookfield Zoo.  Walking back to the  train stop, I admired the well-tended lawns in the Hollywood subdivision, carved out of the Illinois prairie in the late 1800s.  Less than fifteen miles from the skyscrapers and department stores on Michigan Avenue, I wondered what it must be like on an otherwise quiet evening to hear a pack of wolves raise their voices in a chorus, each howl slightly different from the others.

The zoo, managed by the Chicago Zoological Society, was established in 1934 and from the start was innovative in its design of animal habitats, forgoing cages for moats and naturalized settings; the recently renovated wolf exhibit is no exception.

Photo Credit: yooperann via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: yooperann via Compfight cc

Located on the south side of Indian Lake, the habitat was expanded to two acres and is home to a pack of Mexican gray wolves.  During my visit I caught glimpses of them napping on boulders and disappearing into a stand of tall grass.

Hundreds of children from tots to teens accompanied by parents, grandparents, and camp counselors trooped through the exhibit, stopping at the indoor viewing area to look for the the wolves through the one-way glass, taking in the interactive exhibits, and occasionally letting loose with a high-pitched human howl.

Although designed with visitors in mind, wolf woods is meant to give wolves a natural habitat to explore and live in with minimal exposure to people.   The zoo participates in the species survival plan for the endangered wolves and is focused on conservation and reintroduction.  Late in 2012 one of the pack, a four-year-old female named Ernesta, was relocated to Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility in New Mexico with the hope that she might be released, with a mate, into the wild.  (I’ll have more about Ernesta’s story in a future post.)

Before leaving I sat at the outdoor wolf overlook enjoying one of the first days of summer. Sparrows chattered and cotton seedlings from three tall cottonwood trees drifted lazily through the air, seeming never to reach the field of clover below.  Three wolves, ears and tails the only parts visible, passed by in the distance intent on a mission known only to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RIP – Huckleberry (M1275, Bluestem Pack)

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Huckleberry_MacabeWood“In April, M1275 was found dead in Arizona.  The incident is under investigation.”  No other details were provided in the Endangered Species Update that arrived in my email inbox late Saturday afternoon.  On April 21st the two-year-old  had been located by radio telemetry, alone but in the Bluestem Pack’s traditional territory with the other pack members (the alpha pair and six pups) nearby.

M1275 was born in the  spring of 2012.  In this video shot in the summer of that same year,  the field team captured the wolf pup, gave him a quick examination, outfitted him with a radio collar and set him free.  A few months later he was named Huckleberry by a kindergartner in Lobos of the Southwest’s  first annual pup naming contest.  He continued to travel with the Bluestem Pack after a new litter of pups was born in 2013 and probably helped to feed and care for them after the alpha male (M806) was illegally shot last summer.

Life in the wild is tough for wolves–92 of them died between 1998 (when they were first released) and 2012 (the most recent year for which numbers are available).  Causes of death have included:  vehicle collision, disease, asphyxiation after a snake bite, and starvation, but by far the largest number of those deaths (47 of the 92) were caused by illegal shootings.  It’s too early to know for sure what happened to M1275, but I’ll keep watching for more details and asking, if they aren’t forthcoming in future updates.

Just over forty years ago President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act  which has enabled the recovery and reintroduction into the wild of the Mexican gray wolf.   It seems fitting to remember his words from that day, “Nothing is more priceless and worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed.”

May 21, 2014  Note: Yesterday I looked at the most recent telemetry flight locations dated May 12th and was surprised, and hopeful, to see M1275 on the report.  I called the field team’s office in Alpine, Arizona and spoke to Cathy Taylor who researched the discrepancy; she confirmed that M1275 had died and was found on April 21st.  That’s the reason he was reported separate from the pack on the telemetry report referenced in my original post. 

The May 12th telemetry report is incorrect, probably the result of a typographical error.  Taylor was not able to tell me anything more about the cause of death, but did confirm that M1275’s body was shipped to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s forensics laboratory in Ashland, Oregon where a necropsy will be conducted.

 

Earth Day and the Bluestem Pack

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It seemed fitting that the governor of Arizona vetoed Senate Bill 1211 last Tuesday, Earth Day.  The bill, which would have allowed ranchers and their employees to kill a wolf on federal land if caught harming or killing livestock, spent the last  three months making its way through committees and both houses of the legislature.  Citizens voiced their opinions, both for and against the proposed legislation, in calls and emails to state lawmakers and in letters to the editors of local newspapers.

Photo Credit: Tuzen via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: Tuzen via Compfight cc

Mexican gray wolves, reintroduced in Arizona in 1998, are protected by the Endangered Species Act, which also governs the reintroduction program.  In her veto letter Governor Brewer reiterated her support of states’ rights, but also recognized that SB1211 would have conflicted with federal law and called the bill unnecessary.

Meanwhile, oblivious to the battle in the Arizona statehouse,  the Bluestem Pack continued to run and  hunt halfway across the state in the White Mountains.  The most recent monthly report (dated April 24th and prepared by the field team that monitors the wolves’ activity)  located the  alpha pair, a juvenile male, and six pups born in 2013 just south of Big Lake, part of their traditional territory in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests.

Big Lake by P. Nixon

Big Lake
by P. Nixon

During March the field team also conducted a predation study and found two elk carcasses that had recently been killed and eaten by the pack. In twelve years of living in the wild, the Bluestem Pack has seldom harassed or killed livestock.

One exception occurred last November when the wolves killed a cow.  The incident, reported by a rancher, was investigated by the field team and was assigned, based on radio telemetry reports, to AF1042 (the alpha female) and  m1275 (the two-year-old male).  Although I don’t know the details, the rancher was likely reimbursed for his monetary loss.

The outcome could have been very different had a law like SB1211 been in place at the time of the depredation.  The two wolves, if caught, could have been shot on sight, no questions asked, leaving the pack without their alpha (breeding) female.  Instead, the Bluestem Pack still runs, intact, and has not killed any more livestock.

It is the season for new litters of Mexican wolf pups, typically born in April or May.  Soon we’ll find out if the Bluestem Pack has any new members.

Note:  On April 23, 2014 Governor Brewer also vetoed House Bill 2699, a similar bill to SB1211.

 

Bluestem Pack Update – Pups Have New Names

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Artwork by Eleanor W., 1st Grade

Artwork by Eleanor W., 1st Grade

On Friday Lobos of the Southwest announced the winners of their second annual wolf pup naming contest. Of the nine pups named, six were born to the Bluestem Pack,

Back in 1997 the Bluestem Pack got its start when a female wolf pup was born at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs.  F521 was the pup’s official studbook number, but zookeepers called her Estrella, which means Star in Spanish.

She was part of the very first litter born in the zoo’s new habitat, Wolf Woods, built as part of the Mexican gray wolf recovery program.

In 2002 Estrella, her mate, and seven of their pups from two different litters were released into the White Mountains of Arizona.  Twelve years later the pack still runs, hunts, and in most years has a new litter of pups.  Estrella was killed illegally in 2010, but by then one of her daughters, F1042, had become the alpha female of the pack.  F1042’s six pups born in 2013 are Estrella’s grandpups.

The kids who submitted names for the wolf pups made drawings, wrote essays, and told the judges why their names should be selected.  To see all of the results check out this story.

The Bluestem pups have all been captured, outfitted with radio collars, and assigned studbook numbers.  And now they have new names:

Shadow (m1330) – named by Renea S. in the 2nd grade.

Niku (m1331) – means victory in Finnish, named by Hayley K. in the 5th grade.

Unique (f1332) –  named by Danielle H. in the 2nd grade.

Verde (f1333) –  means green in Spanish, named by Eleanor W. in the 1st grade (see above picture).

Esperanza (f1339)  – means hope in Spanish, named by Maddie D., Emily P., and Annabelle B. all in the 6th grade.

Essay by Lillian R.-6th Grade

Essay by Lillian R.-6th Grade

Zia (f1340) – named by Lillian R.in the 6th grade (see her essay to the right),

State Flag of New Mexico

State Flag of New Mexico

As of March 10th, the telemetry flight location report indicated that all of the Bluestem pups were still traveling together with their parents.  Soon they will be yearlings and may start to explore on their own or with wolves from other packs.

I’ll be keeping an eye on them and crossing my fingers that there is a new litter of pups later this spring.

Kids and Wolves

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Give a classroom full of kids paper and crayons and tell them about the endangered Mexican gray wolves  and prepare to be amazed by what they come up with.  My essay in yesterday’s  Santa Fe New Mexican featured two of the pups born to the Bluestem Pack in 2012 that were named in last year’s Lobos of the Southwest contest.

Winners in this year’s contest will be announced later this week.