AZ Daily Sun (original) Posted: Sunday, July 18, 2010 4:00 am
To the editor: Once again, anti-wolf fanatics are deciding for all of us whether Mexican wolves should have the chance to return to their historic range here in the Southwest. Today's Arizona Daily Sun (July 14) carried the story, "Deaths of 2 male Mexican wolves investigated." Both wolves were alpha males, leaders in their individual packs.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Since the Mexican wolf recovery effort started in 1998, 31 Mexican gray wolves have been illegally killed and another 47 have disappeared under suspicious circumstances. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service reported that illegal wolf killings are the leading cause of death for these wolves.
How are the anti-wolf folks locating these animals to shoot? One strong possibility is the fact that when the wolf reintroduction program began, USFWS issued radio telemetry receivers, programmed to track collared Mexican wolves, to an unknown number of wolf recovery opponents. The reason? They hoped that by knowing where the wolves were, cattle owners might use the information to keep cattle away from the wolves. It is not difficult to see how the ability to locate these wolves by telemetry could also be used to kill them.
These receivers should ONLY be in the hands of government employees directly involved in wolf recovery efforts. All others should be recalled and the tracking frequencies changed to help protect these animals from more unnecessary killings. If these animals are to have any chance of recovery they need our help. Please go to www.mexicanwolves.org to see how you can help protect them.
STEVE ROBINSON
Flagstaff
