Wildlife groups call for end to Mexican wolf removal policy

[WQ Project Coordinator]

Wildlife groups call for end to Mexican wolf removal policy

By CHRIS KAHN – 18 hours ago

PHOENIX (AP) — Two wildlife conservation groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday to keep federal agencies from aggressively removing endangered Mexican gray wolves that have attacked livestock more than twice from a recovery program in Arizona and New Mexico.

WildEarth Guardians and The Rewilding Institute are asking the U.S. District Court to stop the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's removal policy, known as "Standard Operating Procedure 13."

Under the policy, Fish and Wildlife removed 45 wolves from the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area during the past three years. That's almost twice the number that the agency removed in the prior seven years.

The removal sometimes involves killing the wolves and other times involves bringing them back to captivity, authorities said.

"We don't think the removal of any of the wolves in the wild is appropriate," said Rob Edward, director of carnivore restoration at Santa Fe-based WildEarth Guardians. "The top priority should be the recovery of the species."

To read the rest of the article, go to: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gk8V ... wD90CILF03

[fangwolf]

So thay stoped the removal policey then the wolfs can stay where thay are right

[Blindseer]

no, they are trying to stop it

[fangwolf]

Then why not put them in another part of the woods im confused sorry

[CLBaileyi]

The whole management around SOP 13 is based on the tool that if a pack, or individual wolf, is confirmed to be the one killing livestock 3 times in a 12 month time period, then the wolf or pack may be removed from the area. The removal may involve trapping to place them into captivity, or lethal control (permenent removal).

This lawsuit is trying to get the SOP rescinded or removed as a management tool when dealing with this highly endangered species. Although some people would say the releases of Mexican wolves in the SW is the same as those that were done in Yellowstone, I would challenge that statement. See the comparrison chart in the Wolf Info section here at WQ for more specific information. The states and USFWS are unable to just "move them to another part of the woods" after the third depredation event. This is the whole struggle with this SOP. For the full explaination of the SOP management for the Mexican wolf recovery project, go to:http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/mexican ... _SOP.shtml for all of the SOP documents (i.e. Standard Operating Procedures).