A pack of endangered Mexican wolves that developed a
taste for beef headed back to captivity in early August. The
Arizona Game and Fish Department captured seven wolves from the
Pipestem Pack after they attacked cattle north of Clifton,
Ariz.
Three Pipestem pups have since died of
parvovirus, a canine disease they apparently picked up before they
were captured. Wildlife officials are inoculating other pups and
trying to capture one Pipestem wolf that is still running free,
says department spokesman Dan Groebner. “The alpha female has grown
wary of traps and is proving difficult to catch.”
“I’m glad they’re finally pulling them out. It’s
about time,” says local rancher Barbara Marks. Marks, like most
ranchers here, opposed the reintroduction
project.
The Pipestem Pack is the first to be
recaptured for preying on livestock since a team of federal and
state wildlife agencies reintroduced Mexican wolves near the
Arizona-New Mexico border last year. But in mid-August, officials
discovered that the Gavilan Pack had also killed a cow in the
remote Maple Peak area of the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest.
Wildlife officials will monitor the Gavilan Pack, and may haze the
wolves away from cattle or feed them wild game to keep them out of
trouble.
“We’re committed to resolving
conflicts,” says Groebner. “We still have a lot of options to use
with the Gavilan Pack. This could be an isolated incident of cattle
depredation, but if it turns into a consistent pattern we will have
to make changes in the adaptive management.”
Five of the 11 wolves released last year in the
Gila and Apache national forests were shot. No wolves have been
killed this year, however, and 12 pups and additional releases mean
there are now 22 Mexican wolves, four packs, in the
wild.
* Alex
Witzeman
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Wolves and cows don’t mix.
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