At Arizona Game and Fish Commission meetings, we frequently hear public comments about how the commission's actions will lead to the "second extinction" of the Mexican wolf.
But with the recent announcement that the Arizona-New Mexico wolf population grew by 31 percent last year, isn't it time for naysayers and everyone interested in Mexican wolf recovery to recognize the program's success?...
Our biologists, who manage wildlife based on science, expected this more rapid growth to occur as the percentage of wild-born wolves increased. When the majority of a re-established wolf population is wild-born, survival rates increase and populations grow exponentially. We've now achieved the reintroduction project's original objective of 100 wolves with a population that is 100 percent wild born.
The value of having the Mexican wolf designated as a 10(j) non-essential, experimental population under the Endangered Species Act cannot be overlooked. This designation gives the field team the flexibility to try new methods, such as last year's successful cross-fostering of pups from a genetically valuable pack with little experience raising young to placing pups with an experienced pack. New techniques like this provide an important means for bolstering the wolf population and increasing genetic diversity.
Full recovery, though, can only be accomplished when the Mexican wolf is recovered in Mexico, where 90 percent of their historic habitat occurs.
...Although we have heard public comment to the contrary, the newly revised 10(j) rule guiding Mexican wolf recovery is a major step in the right direction.
Robert Mansell is chairman of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission.
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