Red Lodge Clearinghouse

Ten years after its reintroduction, the Mexican gray wolf, the most genetically distinct species of gray wolf in North America, is struggling to survive in the Southwest as conservation groups and ranchers battle over the wolf's place in the wild and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works to find a balance.

The wolf has been on the endangered species list since 1976, and it vanished from the wild during the following decade. Its current wild population is derived entirely from a group of 300 animals held and bred in captivity. The 300, progeny of an original group of five that was captured in Mexico in the late 1970s and early 1980s, have limited genetic diversity -- a challenge for biologists who hope to lay the groundwork for a self-sustaining wild population.

But it is what happens to the wolves after release that many consider the biggest problem. Worried about conflicts with the politically influential ranching community in the Southwest, FWS has determined that wolves beyond their designated Blue Range Recovery Area -- 9,290 square miles -- are to be relocated, and any wolves that come into conflict with livestock are to be permanently removed.

FWS recognizes that the removal policy is not working, but the groups managing the wolf's recovery -- including the Forest Service, the White Mountain Apache Tribe, and New Mexico's and Arizona's Game and Fish departments -- lack consensus on a workable alternative, according to FWS spokesman Brian Millsap.

Currently, the wolves' numbers are unimpressive. While an independent scientific panel has determined that the recovery area could easily support 250 animals, and possibly as many as 468, a recent survey shows the current population to be only 52 and include only four breeding pairs.

For many ranchers, who are compensated for any verified livestock losses due to wolves, that's 52 too many. "I'd really like to see them gone," said Barbara Marks, who chairs the Arizona Cattle Growers' Association's wildlife committee and operates a cattle ranch with her husband that includes 225 acres of private property and 71,775 acres of public land. "In the middle of the night, you wake up in a cold sweat when you hear your dogs barking, wondering if something's wrong."

But while officials do not release into the wild any wolf that lacks a genetic duplicate in captivity, a number of scientists raising Mexican wolves in zoos argue that officials should declare a moratorium on killing the animals in the Blue Range Recovery Area because it is undercutting the wild population's genetic diversity.

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