Mexican Wolf Numbers Jump 10 Percent After Long Lag In Recovery

The number of Mexican Grey Wolves trotting through the wilds of Arizona and New Mexico jumped to 83 in 2013, a roughly 10 percent increase.  The rise in the population of the reintroduced wolves comes as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) ponders a change in the ground rules for the effort. The federal government has proposed a dramatic expansion in the area through which the wolves can wander, including all of Rim Country. Right now, biologists recapture wolves that wander outside a wild stretch of territory near Alpine. All 83 wolves now in the recovery area were born in the wild, which gives them a big survival edge over the captive-reared wolves. The apex predators rely heavily on the help of the pack in hunting and survival. Captive-reared animals often don’t function effectively in packs and struggle to improvise hunting techniques they would normally learn from their wild-born pack-mates. USFWS biologists proposed the expansion of the recovery area to include most of Arizona south of I-40 in part in response to the painfully slow growth in the number of wolves in the recovery area. About half of the wolves introduced either got killed by humans or recaptured after they either left the reintroduction area or preyed on cattle. The most recent population survey suggests that after a long period of stagnation, the population may finally be expanding in the current recovery area. Arizona Game and Fish Director Larry Voyles noted “this is the third year of a greater-than-10-percent increase in the wolf population, a success directly related to our science-based, on-the-ground management. Equally important to the population growth is the fact that now 100 percent of the Mexican wolves in Arizona and New Mexico are wild-born, which is a factor that we have always considered an important milestone along the way to recovery.” Biologists undertook an aerial survey to count the wolves, especially those fitted with radio collars. Wolves born in the wild and not wearing collars may have escaped detection. The hours of flights counted 46 wolves in New Mexico and 37 in Arizona. The count included 17 pups born in the wild during 2013. The biologists said the 83-wolf estimate represents a minimum number, since some wolves without collars surely went undetected...more