Officials are offering $100,000 for information about the death of a Mexican wolf in Arizona

PHOENIX – Federal and state wildlife officials have offered a reward of up to $103,500 for information leading to prosecution in connection with the death of an endangered Mexican wolf in Arizona.

The wolf nicknamed “Hope” was found dead on Nov. 7 in the area of ​​Forest Service Road 2058 and East Spring Valley Road northwest of Flagstaff.

Officials have not released the cause of death because the incident remains under investigation. The death was not related to “actions by the agency’s management,” the newspaper said U.S. Fish and Game Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Mexican wolves were reintroduced to Arizona starting in 1998 after disappearing from the wild in the American Southwest due to hunting, trapping and poisoning, for fear they would prey on livestock. Lobos were listed on the Endangered Species Act in 1976 and a captive breeding program eventually led to their return to the wild.

Killing a lobo violates the Endangered Species Act and state law, which can result in criminal fines up to $50,000, up to a year in prison, or a civil fine up to $25,000.

“When someone poaches an elk or kills the wrong species of deer, the Arizona Game and Fish Department immediately seeks the public’s help to solve the crime and when the perpetrator is identified, the department takes action,” said Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club. Grand Canyon Chapter, said in a press release. “They have a fiduciary responsibility to all of Arizona’s wildlife. We expect them to take on that responsibility for Hope.”

Hope was documented last summer outside the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area near Flagstaff. She was captured to attach a GPS collar and released in July.

Hope and another wolf had separated from the Tu Dil Hil pack, and efforts to capture and locate the pair in the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area began in October.

The whereabouts of the fellow wolf are unknown.

“The area she claimed north of Interstate 40 and outside the official recovery area demonstrated that suitable and appropriate Mexican wolf habitat exists in northern Arizona,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “Federal and state agencies should listen to what she had to say and allow wolves to become active agents in their recovery.”

Wolves that venture outside the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area are still protected by federal law and cannot be harassed or harassed unless there is an active threat to human safety.

The Mexican wolf population in Arizona and New Mexico has grown for eight years in a row, and the 2023 census showed at least 257 lobos spread between the two states (144 in New Mexico, 113 in Arizona).

Fostering, the strategy of placing captive-born young in wild dens, has been a primary strategy to rebuild populations and improve genetic diversity, although the genetic health of the species is a concern of environmental groups. A record of 27 puppies were housed in eight burrows last spring.

The species remains critically endangered as managers continue to make progress.

USFWS bid up to $50,000, AZGFD up to $1,000 and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish up to $1,000. Non-governmental organizations and private individuals have added an additional $51,500 to the reward, depending on the information provided and its effect on the conviction of one or more responsible persons.