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Update courtesy Patrick C. Valentino of the Julian Wolf Preserve
The Mule Pack is the first release within the BRPA and the first first transfer of any wolves that we know on the backs of mules -- both which are landmarks for the project.
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The past week was one of many firsts for the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program. Interagency Team members worked intensely to plan and coordinate the successful capture and transport of two wolf packs, first by helicopter and finally by mule, into remote areas of the Apache National Forest in Arizona. Biologists transferred both packs, consisting of adults and pups, into experimental soft mesh pens in the forest and were prepared to provide supplemental food and water for about one week before releasing them. The wolves found a way out of the pen by the next day, a result that was not unexpected by the biologists. "The primary purpose of these soft mesh pens is to cause the wolves to stay together following their release. That seems to have been accomplished," said David Parsons, Wolf Project Leader. There are now four packs of Mexican gray wolves totaling at least 19 animals, free in the Apache National Forest. That number includes nine pups born this spring. The birth of pups by the two pairs that were free-ranging during the breeding season has been neither confirmed nor ruled out.
On Friday, May 21, the Gavilan Pack was relocated from their pen near Coalson Peak in Arizona's Apache National Forest to a new site four to five miles to the northwest. They escaped from the pen in the early hours of last Saturday, but monitoring indicates they continue to remain in the vicinity of the pen and supplemental food. The Gavilan alpha male #183 was born at the Alameda Park Zoo located in Alamogordo, New Mexico. The alpha female #168 gave birth to five healthy pups in the Coalson Pen on approximately April 8. She was born at Wild Canid Survival and Research Center inEureka, Missouri. A yearling male born to the pair in the spring of 1998 at Ladder Ranch in New Mexico remains with the pack.
Early Saturday morning, May 22, a capture team met at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their purpose was the safe capture and transport of the newly named Mule Pack to an awaiting helicopter in Alpine, Arizona. Moving swiftly and quietly the team captured three male pups and one female pup and then the adult pair. The animals were then weighed and given a thorough veterinary examination. The adults were radio collared and ear tagged, before being placed in kennels for the three-hour drive to Alpine and the awaiting helicopter. In Alpine the adults and pups were transferred from their kennels and placed in specially designed panniers for the transport into roadless back country on mules. High winds on Saturday hampered the helicopter transport of the Mule Pack, but at 6:15 on Sunday morning the pack was airlifted successfully to the awaiting pack mules near their new home in the Blue Range Primitive Area. The trip by mule pack to the pen wastrouble-free. "The success of the mule packing operation is very encouraging and opens up new opportunities for releases of wolves in remote areas," said Val Asher, Wolf Biologist for Arizona Game and Fish Department. Pen tenders reported the family reunited once released from the panniers. The pack remains close to the pen where there is supplemental food and water. The alpha male # 190 was born at the Wild Canid Survival and Research Center, Eureka, Missouri, and the alpha female #189 was born at Alameda Park Zoo, Alamogordo, New Mexico.
Wolf Biologist Wendy Brown said, "Restoration of a species is one of the most gratifying and important of conservation efforts. The success of this particular effort required the skill and cooperation of many different agencies, individuals, and volunteers -- including the mules! "
The Mexican gray wolf is the most endangered subspecies of gray wolf in North America. The spring pup counts of 21 born at Sevilleta and in the Apache National Forest, and six additional litters born at other captive breeding facilities throughout the United States help insure the future of the recovery program.
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Folks;
A forward of Articles on Mexican wolves from Tom Beno of WJL 19 Mex wolves roam free breaking out of "soft" release pens
Patrick Valentino
From: "Tom Beno"
Subject: Mexican Wolves Escaped/Released
Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 09:59:45 -0700
Fourteen Mexican gray wolves couldn't wait to be released next week in Eastern Arizona, so they made their own way to freedom.
The two packs pushed through soft mesh acclimation holding pens last weekend in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, near the New Mexico border.
Biologists aren't angry, though. They wanted the wolves to break free.
"The primary purpose of these soft mesh pens is to cause the wolves to stay together following their release," said David Parsons, project leader for the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program. "That seems to be accomplished.
Late last week, the 14 wolves were taken by helicopter and mule into a remote area. Within a day, they had forced their way out.
There now are at least 19 wolves roaming the remote area where there had been none until a little over a year ago, biologists say.
Biologists took pains to place the latest wolves in a more remote area than had been used last year, when some wolves were shot.
"(Biologists) wanted to move them so they are more remote from people. It should give them a better chance of survival," said Frosty Taylor of Arizona Game and Fish.
Last year, 11 Mexican gray wolves were released in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona.
However, five of the wolves were shot to death. Several were recaptured, some to be released again later.
Among those first 11 restored to the wild, only one remained free.
This year, one released wolf was killed by a car.
One of the new packs includes two adults, their lone yearling and their five 6-week-old pups. The other has two adults and four 6-week-old pups.
Monitoring via radio collars showed the wolves remained near their release pens, in part because biologists had provided a temporary supply of food there.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/news/stories/Story0510081.html
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The Southwest's wild wolf population increased markedly in recent days with the release of two more packs of captive-raised wolves.
At least 19 Mexican gray wolves now roam the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in eastern Arizona, according to a news release issued Wednesday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Five wolves were free in the mountains just a few weeks ago.
But then late last week, wildlife biologists moved the eight-member Gavilan Pack to a remote area of the forest where the wolves were placed in a nylon-mesh holding pen. The nylon pen held the wolves overnight before they chewed their way out.
And on Saturday, wolf biologists captured a six-member pack in a pen at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in central New Mexico.
That pack, called the Mule Pack, was driven three hours to Alpine, Ariz., and placed on a helicopter. The wolves were then flown to an area near the Blue Range Primitive Area of the Arizona forest.
From there, biologists packed the wolves onto mules and into the back country.
"The success of the mule-packing operation is very encouraging and opens up new opportunities for wolves in remote areas," Val Asher, a biologist for the Arizona Game and Fish Department, said in the news release.
Two packs that were free in the mountains might have had pups. If they have, the pups would add to the 19 wolves biologists have counted.
Mexican wolves are the most endangered subspecies of North American gray wolf. Until the reintroduction effort began last year, government biologists said there were no Mexican wolves living in the wild.
The reintroduction effort, which began last year, was marred by gunfire. At least five wolves were shot to death of the 11 that were released.
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/3news05-27.htm
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Wolves are breaking out all over!
It's no cause for alarm.
But twice in recent days endangered Mexican gray wolves -- apparently hungry for the wilds -- broke through their temporary holding pens, state and federal wildlife officials said Wednesday.
The first jailbreak occurred Saturday when two adults, their lone yearling and their five new pups -- now 6 weeks old -- bolted from a temporary pen deep in the Apache National Forest.
On Monday, two more adults and their four 6-week-old pups escaped from their temporary holding pen.
In an experimental move, both packs had been taken by helicopter and mule-pack deep within the isolated Blue Range Primitive Area, a roadless sanctuary between Alpine and Clifton that hugs the New Mexico border.
Last year, the first time wolves were returned to the wilds of Arizona in more than two decades, the lobos were released from steel acclimation pens on the outskirts of the Blue Range, closer to campgrounds and other human developments. No steel pens, nor any other hardened structures, may be constructed in the Blue Range.
In an effort to place the wolves deeper in the forest, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department worked over this past weekend to move two packs of wolves into soft mesh pens within the Blue Range.
"They wanted to move them so they are more remote from people. It should give them a better chance of survival," said Frosty Taylor of Arizona Game and Fish.
However, both packs managed to wiggle through the mesh. Although they got out, they so far have remained near the pens, where they can receive supplemental food and water until they begin hunting on their own.
All told, there now are 24 wolves in the wilds of Arizona, including two adults and their three pups in one of the steel acclimation pens used last year closer to Alpine. Those wolves are due to be set free in June, closer to the elk calving season in the area.
Two other packs, which may also have pups in their dens, also roam the 5,000-square-mile Mexican gray wolf reintroduction area, which includes the Apache and Gila national forest in Arizona and New Mexico.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/0527wolves.shtml
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(past reports can be found on the Mexican Wolf Home Page for USFWS at http://ifw2es.fws.gov/wolf/)
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This is a brief summary of current information about the Mexican wolf reintroduction for the interested public. Additional copies of this update and other information can be obtained by calling (505) 248-6664 or (520) 367-4281. Call the toll-free number at (888) 459-9653 to report suspected livestock depredation or incidents of take or harassment of wolves. The reintroduction is a multi-agency cooperative effort (US Fish & Wildlife Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department, New Mexico Game and Fish Department, USDA-Wildlife Services, US Forest Service).