By Mary Katerine Ray,
Rio Grande Chapter Wildlife Chair
Despite years of cross-fostering genetically valuable lobo pups from captive litters into wild wolf dens, scientists have determined that the overall genetic diversity of the wild wolf population has declined each year for the last four years.
The Mexican wolf was nearly eradicated before recovery efforts were begun. The genes of only seven wolves founded the entire Mexican wolf population alive today. It is a limited genome from which to draw, but the captive population still has 37% more genetic diversity than the wild one, which means more can be done. Cross-fostering is not enough.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service must stop removing wolves from the wild. In the last six months, the agency has fatally shot two wolves, captured and removed four members of another pack and killed the fifth member in the den. A kill order for an eighth wolf is in effect at this writing. These actions are taken at the behest of livestock interests.
The Rio Grande Chapter joined 29 other conservation organizations urging that these removals stop.
It is also becoming increasingly clear that a genetic infusion from the Northern gray wolf that is being restored to Colorado will be needed. For this to happen, the Mexican wolf must be allowed to naturally migrate north beyond the arbitrary boundary of Interstate 40. Some members of the NM Game Commission seemed open to allowing this at the August meeting in Catron County.
Releasing well-bonded captive wolves with their pups is also a proven way to get genetically important wolves on the ground quickly. In very welcome news, Asha, the wolf who twice wandered north of I-40 only to be captured and placed into captivity where she chose a mate with whom she produced pups this spring, has been returned to the wild with her entire family. They were released onto the Ladder Ranch in Southern New Mexico.
The pack has been named the Quartz pack, and while the pups are not yet collared, the approximate locations of Asha and her mate can be viewed on a map provided to the public by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
You can see her location on this map. Please note the locations are not precise. The hexagons are 2000 acres in size, and they are not in real time.
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?webmap=dbcc9960867948aea225fc53c50d0ed0
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