Capturing Mexican gray wolves near the Grand Canyon may be against the law

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Wildlife groups are warning state and federal agencies that ongoing efforts to capture and relocate a pair of Mexican gray wolves near the Grand Canyon violate federal law, and the groups are threatening legal action that could redefine where these endangered wolves can roam.

In one letter A coalition of advocacy groups is claiming against the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services and the Arizona Game and Fish Department that efforts to rehome two wolves are known as the Kendrick Peak Packis prohibited by the Endangered Species Act. The groups argue that part of the law prohibits the “taking” of a protected species, even by state or federal agencies.

State wildlife managers have relocated Mexican gray wolves that have historically roamed north of Interstate 40 under the authority of a recovery permit. This permit, issued by U.S. Fish and Wildlife, allows agencies to capture and relocate wolves from a reintroduced population back to a designated recovery area south of the highway.

According to one 2023 surveyless than half of the Mexican gray wolves in the monitored population wore radio collars that allowed wildlife managers to track their movements. Without the presence of the collars, the interest groups state in their letter, government authorities cannot determine the origin of the wolves and are therefore legally obliged to leave the wolves alone.

“There is no evidence to suggest that they have spread from experimental populations,” the letter said, “and as such they cannot be legally targeted.”

Arizona Game and Fish issued a written statement when asked about the wolves: “The Arizona Game and Fish Department believes it is in full compliance with the provisions of the Endangered Species Act in this matter and will have no further comment due to ongoing lawsuits.”

Endangered species: Are Mexican gray wolves closer to recovery 25 years after being released into the wild?

Origin of the Kendrick Peak Pack

First documented in July 2024, the Kendrick Peak Pack was discovered following the successful capture and capture of a female Mexican gray wolf near Flagstaff, officially known as F2979 and nicknamed ‘Hope’. The wolf led officials to a second unregistered wolf, nicknamed “Mystery” by Flagstaff schoolchildren.

The wolves near Flagstaff are not considered a threat to human or public safety, confirmed Aislinn Maestas, a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Mexican gray wolves are known to cross north of I-40 and outside the recovery area. Anubis, a young male wolf known as M2520, roamed the highway in 2021 and was illegally shot and killed in Flagstaff in 2022. Asha, a female wolf known as F2754, crossed twice in 2022 and 2023 before being transferred to a conservation center in New Mexico.

“When wolves go north of I-40, they are at greater risk of something negative happening to them, whether it’s being hit by a car or being shot,” Maestas said. The Republic earlier this year. “If you have wolves in a place where people don’t expect them, the wolves are more likely to have something bad happen to them.”

Conservation agencies have relocated more than 150 Mexican gray wolves since 1998 using tactics such as controlled leghold traps and aerial shots from helicopters.

Conservation groups warn that capturing and relocating the animals poses a deadly risk to endangered wolves.

“Many wolves have died because they couldn’t handle the stress of capture,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “I think we have to consider how much human intervention actually is. helpful.”

Capture myopathy, an often fatal condition in which captured animals overstrain their muscles and cause physiological imbalances, has been linked to the deaths of Mexican gray wolves as recently as 2020. At least 17 wolves have died, according to data collected by the Center for Biological Diversity. accidental in connection with capture, handling or translocation since 1999.

In the Wilderness: Conservationists drew a line at I-40 for Mexican gray wolves, but has it hurt recovery?

What is the I-40 boundary?

The Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area, or MWEPA, was established in 1998 to provide a flexible management area for a wolf population that was functionally extinct in the wild. The area includes all land in Arizona and New Mexico south of Interstate 40, which agencies call the historic range of the Mexican gray wolf subspecies.

“There is an abundance of vacant habitat in Arizona, New Mexico and Old Mexico,” said Jim deVos, Mexican wolf coordinator for Arizona Game and Fish. “We have been able to reduce the number of human-caused deaths in the recovery area by working to keep people informed.”

A population survey conducted by a multi-agency field team counted 257 wolves living in the area in 2023, a 6% increase from 2022, extending an eight-year streak of population growth.

Despite this, conservation groups have opposed the I-40 boundary as a boundary that will hinder wolf recovery.

“The I-40 border is a political jurisdiction. It is not biological.” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project, one of the advocacy groups, which signed the letter. “All the reasons they offer for returning wolves to the MWEPA are not scientifically based and have no real motivation other than to keep wolves in a defined area.”

Instead, the advocacy groups point to a 2014 study that found that creating three interconnected populations of Mexican gray wolves in the MWEPA, the Grand Canyon and the southern Rocky Mountains would create the potential for stronger genetic diversity for a species which is plagued by inbreeding. a more dispersed Mexican wolf population would allow mixing with the related Northwestern gray wolf species.

According to deVos, the subspecies’ genetics would be better served if the two wolves were closer to other wolves in the MWEPA.

“If we want these wolves to make a meaningful contribution, they will do more in the protected area where there are other wolves to interact with,” he said.

A year with the wolf: The fate of Mexican gray wolves is embroiled in a battle for their place in the landscape

Leaving the pack would be an ‘ecological victory’

State and federal officials would not comment on pending litigation, but in a written statement, U.S. Fish and Wildlife confirmed that efforts have been made to capture and relocate Hope, F2979 and other uncollared wolves in its area.

“It is at the discretion of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to capture and translocate Mexican wolves established entirely outside the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area (MWEPA) under current conditions. recovery permit.”

While conservation groups warn that efforts to seize the Kendrick Peak Pack could be illegal, separate ongoing legal actions challenging the I-40 boundary are making their way through federal district court in Arizona.

“Keeping the Kendrick Peak Pack wild would be a huge environmental victory,” says Anderson of Western Watersheds Project, “but the real victory will be when that I-40 boundary falls completely.”

John Leos covers environmental issues for the Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send tips or questions to [email protected].

Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in the Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

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