Will New Listing Save the Last 52 Mexican Gray Wolves?
The Mexican gray wolf population continues to struggle at just 52 wolves. However, listing the species as a “distinct population segment” may hold the key to recovery.
The Center for Biological Diversity issued a press release today to announce that they have filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to formally separate the Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) from other wolf populations in the United States and list it as either an endangered subspecies or a “distinct population segment.”
Although a 1982 reintroduction effort along the Arizona-New Mexico line hoped to result in at least 100 wolves in the wild, and 18 breeding pairs by 2006, the most recent survey – conducted in 2008 – found only 52 wolves. Unfortunately, illegal shootings, combined with complaints by ranchers who claim to have lost cattle to wolves (wolves that have been involved in three livestock kills in a year can be killed or trapped by federal agents), have taken their toll on the reintroduction plan.
Not like other wolves
Because the Mexican gray wolf population is more than 700 miles from other wolves, and lives in a warm, arid environment (unlike other wolves), the CBD argues that the Mexican gray wolf should be listed as either a subspecies or distinct population segment. Researchers have also found the Mexican gray wolf population to be genetically distinct, and concluded that the species should be a conservation priority.
The existing recovery plan for the Mexican gray wolf did not identify the population as a unique subspecies or a distinct population, and was intended as an “interim strategy” when it was developed 27 years ago. Therefore, a recovery plan, including a long-term plan for establishing new populations, does not actually exist for the Mexican gray wolf – and needs to be developed.
According to Noah Greenwald, endangered species program director at CBD:
The Mexican gray wolf recovery program has been operating with one arm tied behind its back. It’s time to take the gloves off and get more wolves onto the landscape.
Let’s hope the Mexican gray wolves get the recognition – and the recovery plan – they deserve!
Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/ / CC BY-ND 2.0
