White Mountain Independent (Original) Letter to the Editor Posted on July 27, 2018 by Kay Bordwell
Mexican Wolf recovery program story needs clarified, corrected
Thank you for the article of July 24 highlighting the Mexican Wolf recovery program from the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Some of the information in that article needs to be clarified and corrected.
While the AZGF wildlife science coordinator confuses readers by saying “The sobering truth is that in the last decade, no captive-raised adult wolf released in the wild has subsequently raised pups in the wild to contribute to the gene pool,” what he fails to mention is that in the last decade there have been no releases if well-bonded adult wolves with pups. In fact, not only was the last adult release in 2015, there were only four other adult releases during the period 2008 through 2014.
It is a shame to see the Arizona Game and Fish Department characterize the partners they work with in cross-fostering as “zoos” when they know intimately that the facilities raising the adults who should be released are the very same facilities breeding the pups AZGFD uses in cross-fostering.
When it comes to credibility, the Department spokesperson’s claim of “misleading and disingenuous statements” from other groups should acknowledge a little history: The initial reintroduction of Mexican wolves, over Arizona’s objections, came as a result of a lawsuit by Center for Biological Diversity. The current 2015 reintroduction rule came as a result of a 2004 petition for rulemaking of CBD followed by a successful lawsuit in 2012. In contrast, Arizona’s attempts to limit wolf reintroduction include the 2011 limitation on releasing only “replacement” wolves for those killed in Arizona-later followed by a complete refusal to release any adults no matter how well bonded a family unit.
With the overwhelming support of Arizonians to reintroduce wolves it is important to inform the public accurately of the present situation with wolf recovery and allow the public to be well informed how Arizona Game and Fish are making decisions in the recovery of Mexican gray wolves.
Kay Bordwell,
Flagstaff
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White Mountain Independent (Original) Letter to the Editor Posted on July 27, 2018 by Maya Rommwatt
Mexican wolves press release is misleading
If the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s spokesperson were less eager to accuse the bearers of bad news and to prevent Mexican wolves from expanding beyond the territories already occupied, they might have avoided misleading the public in their recent press release reprinted here.
After a lawsuit invalidated Arizona’s effective control of management practices, including an inflexible kill or remove policy which paid no attention to the genetic value of the wolf, it is true that there was a “period of strong population growth ... with almost the entire population being wild-born wolves.” What they left out was that during this same period the scientists and conservation organizations criticized in the article consistently warned that the inbreeding of the wild population was getting worse, and that the time to inject new genes was before the population grew too large to influence.
The coordinator scolded: “The sobering truth is that in the last decade, no captive-raised adult wolf released in the wild has subsequently raised pups in the wild to contribute to the gene pool.” What he doesn’t tell the reader is that in the last decade there have been no releases of well-bonded adult wolves with pups. In fact, not only was the last adult release in 2015, there were only four other adult releases during the period 2008 through 2014.
His attempt to demonstrate the superiority of cross-fostering ignores the fact that despite the best efforts of the Interagency Field Team in 2015, there were no cross-fosters of captive-born pups into wild dens. More importantly, he disingenuously ignores the facts that in 2016 the IFT cross-fostered only six pups, in 2017 only four pups, and in 2018 only eight pups. He glosses over these numbers because the simple fact is the USFWS recovery implementation strategy calls for not 0, 6, 4, or 8 cross-fostered pups a year but 12 pups – not just once or twice, but every year for 16 years. He wants the reader to believe that cross-fostering should be the only technique for solving the inbreeding crisis of the wild population. This is Arizona’s position, regardless of the fact that for the first quarter of those 16 years, four consecutive years, the IFT has fallen short – not just a little, but by an average of over 7 pups a year.
That’s why Center for Biological Diversity and other organizations are pressing for release of well-bonded adult wolves with pups. Unlike Arizona’s claim that only the cross-fostering tool should be used, CBD is not asserting that only adult releases matter. Given the genetic crisis, CBD and other organizations just want the Mexican wolf program to use all available management tools to solve the problem.
Maya Rommwatt,
Albuquerque, N.M.
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White Mountain Independent (Original) Letter to the Editor Posted on July 27, 2018 by Robyn Richards
Wildlife management confuses readers
As a conservationist and a lifelong desert resident, I would like to put in a few observations regarding the consistently hostile Arizona Game and Fish Department's (AZGF) statement on releasing wolves from captive breeding situations to wild spaces. First of all, it looks like they are speaking with a distinct lack of honesty and expertise.
While the AZGF wildlife science coordinator confuses readers by saying “The sobering truth is that in the last decade, no captive-raised adult wolf released in the wild has subsequently raised pups in the wild to contribute to the gene pool.” What he fails to mention is that in the last decade there have been no releases of well-bonded adult wolves with pups. In fact, not only was the last adult release in 2015, there were only four other adult releases during the period 2008 through 2014. Could his vested interest in avoiding the political challenges of adult releases have clouded his statistical training? When it comes to credibility, the Department spokesperson’s claims of “misleading and disingenuous statements” should acknowledge a little history: The initial reintroduction of Mexican wolves, over Arizona’s objections, came as a result of a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD).
The current 2015 reintroduction rule came as a result of a 2004 petition for rule making by CBD followed by a successful lawsuit in 2012. In contrast, Arizona’s attempts to limit wolf reintroduction include the 2011 limitation on releasing only “replacement” wolves for those killed in Arizona – later followed by a complete refusal to release any adults no matter how well bonded a family unit. What is the real reason behind touting cross-fostering as the best (and only) remedy for Mexican wolf genetic recovery? By definition, and basic biology, captive born pups cross fostered into wild dens can only be placed in existing dens. They don’t involve public outreach to create awareness and acceptance of wolves being released into the thousands of square miles which the reintroduction rule specifies may be used for new releases and translocations. Far easier – and more politically expedient – to put pups into the same ol’-same ol’ and hope they survive, pair up, and conceive more wolves who will establish new territories – but not too far from the parents or too fast to cause problems for the current Department officials. We cannot let misinformation and laziness dictate our public policy when it comes to anything, especially wildlife management.
Robyn Richards
Albuquerque, N.M.
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White Mountain Independent (Original) Letter to the Editor Posted on July 27, 2018 by David Hartley
AGFD should stop making excuses regarding Mexican wolves
One thing that comes to mind after reading this article is the extreme importance of genetic divinity in a wild animal populations ... and how many wild Mexican wolves are left in the Southwest? By last count there are just 108! And how many of those 108 wolves are covering hundreds if not thousands square of miles? Wouldn't inbreeding be a huge problem with such a small group? This brings up another question. How many new breeding wolf adults have been released into the wild? My records show 4 or 5 since 2008? Last one was in 2015! And those released were deemed replacement wolves for the ones that had already been killed. So with so few wolves left.
It seems more than obvious that we need more of them as soon as possible in order that better and healthier population is maintained. So then if there are captive Mexican wolves with greater genetic diversity to lend to the already dwindling wild population, then why not release those wolves so they can help renew the gene pool? Or is it as I suspect. You're just hoping that these last wolves will make it on their own? Meanwhile what few are left continue to get shot and killed. Look. Over a million invasive cattle grazing are on our public lands verses a 108 indigenous wild Mexican Wolves on them left. Such odds make me wonder if underneath this article (and other like articles and statements) you folks are just making up more lame excuses to further undermine wild Mexican Wolf population?
In closing I'm asking you as state wildlife people (the Arizona Game and Fish) to stop making up more excuses and to start showing us that you really are doing something to support the last wild Mexican wolves.
David Hartley
Flagstaff
