With approximately fifty animals in the wild, the US Fish and Wildlife Service is behind schedule on its Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) reintroduction program. Illegal killing of wolves and the need to remove problem animals have slowed the recovery process.
Meanwhile, ranchers who are losing livestock to the wolves feel they are not being compensated fairly. They also blame the wolves for a number of ranches going out of business.
Federal Government has Responsibilities to Both Ranchers and Mexican Wolves
The issue of balancing livestock management and Mexican gray wolf reintroduction in the Southwest is complex. A significant proportion of Southwest livestock grazing takes place on public lands, managed by the federal government’s Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service. Thus the government has a responsibility to the ranchers grazing those lands.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for the gray wolf, which is protected under the Endangered Species Act. Under the terms of the Endangered Species Act, the government is required to work toward the recovery of any species, subspecies or population placed on the endangered list.
Gray Wolf Reintroduction Affects Livestock Management in the Southwest
In the early stages of the reintroduction program, wolves that were responsible for more than three livestock kills in a year were removed from the wild. Ranchers are concerned that that ‘three strike rule’ has been modified, resulting in two three-legged wolves being left in the wild despite a history of livestock predation. Ironically, at least one of the two animals in question lost its lower limb to an illegal trap.
Ranchers also express concerns about losses of working dogs killed by the wolves. Because much of the livestock in the Southwest is grazed on public land, there is no fencing to keep the wolves out. Defenders of Wildlife have initiated a program to work with ranchers on preventing livestock losses to wolf predation, which includes the use of temporary nighttime fencing and other concepts successfully used elsewhere.
Conservation Organization Attempts to Help Both Wolves and Ranchers
The Defenders of Wildlife Foundation’s Wolf Compensation Trust has paid over $97,000US in compensation for lost livestock to ranchers in New Mexico and Arizona between 1998 and 2007. But some ranchers want the federal government, not a conservation organization, to manage the compensation plan. Ranchers also say that cattle and sheep losses are putting them out of business, as the compensation is not enough to replace valuable genetic stock.
Wolf Recovery Slowed by Illegal Take and Restrictions on Dispersal
Unlike the wolf reintroduction program in Yellowstone National Park, Mexican gray wolf recovery is hampered by the need to remove animals that move out of the approved reintroduction area. Within the Greater Yellowstone area and the Yellowstone to Yukon corridor, wolves that disperse from the national park have less protection than within park boundaries but US Fish and Wildlife staff are not required to capture and relocate these animals.
This artificial control over dispersal of Mexican gray wolves may be contributing to the interactions with ranchers, rather than reducing it. Young male wolves naturally disperse from their natal pack. If this movement were not restricted some of these animals might travel into less populated and less heavily grazed areas.
And while ranchers are quick to count livestock losses, US Fish and Wildlife Service documents show that nearly half of the 70 Mexican gray wolves lost between 1998 and 2009 in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area alone were illegally shot.
Efforts are underway once again to bring all parties to the table to balance the needs of ranchers with those of the endangered Mexican gray wolf. After more than a decade, it may be very difficult to find that balance.
Dawn M. Smith - A vet nurse, Dawn has worked in wildlife rehabilitation and conservation around the world in addition to her veterinary hospital ...
Join the Conversation