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Update courtesy Patrick C. Valentino of the Julian Wolf Preserve
As part of the investigation into the shootings of the Mexican gray wolves, USFWS sent a questionnaire to hunters who were in the Luna are during one of the shootings. One of the endangered wolves was found dead Nov. 7, the opening day of an elk hunting season. The wolf, a yearling male, was found on or near a hunting unit that borders Arizona and is centered around Luna, 14 miles northwest of Reserve in Catron County.
The hunters are outraged at some of the questions asked. Please see the full article below:
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"It's in my attorney's hands now," Hawman added.
One of the endangered wolves was found dead Nov. 7, the opening day of an elk hunting season. The wolf, a yearling male, was found on or near a hunting unit that borders Arizona and is centered around Luna, 14 miles northwest of Reserve in Catron County.
It was the second wolf shot on the opening day of a hunting season. One of the theories used to explain the shootings is that hunters mistook the wolves for coyotes, the killing of which is unregulated in New Mexico.
Others, meanwhile, believe the wolves were deliberately targeted by opponents of efforts to restore wolves to the mountains of the Southwest.
Some 240 licenses were issued for the five-day elk hunt near Luna, during which hunters were allowed to kill female elk and young male elk with muzzle-loaders. In an eight-page questionnaire sent to the hunters, investigators asked for details of their hunting trip and for an explanation of how it happened that the wolf was shot while they were hunting.
Among the other questions: "Did you shoot the wolf?" "How do you feel now that you have completed this form?" "Should we believe your answers to the questions?" "If your answer to the last question was yes, give us one reason why," and "Did you feel afraid while completing this form?"
"I feel this is extremely inflammatory," said Jim Hughes, a legislative assistant for Rep. Joe Skeen, R-N.M., whose office was notified of the questionnaire by angry hunters Wednesday.
Hughes said congressional staffers have asked Interior Department officials about the letter and have been told, "This is standard law enforcement procedure."
"It raises a lot of serious legal questions," Hughes said. "We're going to get to the bottom of this."
Fish and Wildlife Service officials in Albuquerque did not respond Wednesday to requests for comment.
"Personally, I felt very insulted," said Don Nevins, a retired Silver City mine worker who was hunting with his 17-year-old grandson. "I don't approve of them sending something like that to me," Nevins said. "I don't feel they've got the right to send something like that to a teen-ager, someone underage." "I would not mind if they sent a questionnaire asking if I saw something unusual," Nevins added. "The way this one is laid out, basically, I feel like they're accusing me of shooting."
Investigators have been trying to find the killers of four of the wolves. An Arizona camper reported shooting the first wolf, but he was not prosecuted after he told investigators he was defending his family. Of the 11 wolves released in March, five have been shot and one is presumed dead. A wild pup born this year is also presumed dead. Three were returned to captivity, where they remain. The two survivors were recaptured briefly and paired with females. They have since been released but were marked with brightly colored paint in an effort to prevent hunters from mistaking them for coyotes.
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/2news12-17.htm