Mexican gray wolf found dead in NM; 4th this year

Another Mexican gray wolf has been found dead in southwestern New Mexico, dealing a further setback to a struggling program to reintroduce the endangered animals along the Arizona-New Mexico border. The female wolf was found dead on Oct. 12 in Sierra County. It was the fourth wolf found dead since June. A spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Albuquerque, Tom Buckley, said the wolf's body was sent to the agency's forensics laboratory in Ashland, Ore., to find out what killed the animal. The male wolf that had been traveling with her has not been spotted, but Buckley said there's no reason to believe something happened to him. He said there had been no mortality signal from the male wolf's radio collar. The signal is set off when an animal does not move for a set time. The two animals, known as Morgart's Pack, were in the Gila National Forest in September, according to the program's monthly update...more