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This year we celebrate the 10th
anniversary of the initial release of
Mexican wolves to the wilds of the
southwest. After being brought to the brink
of extinction in the 1900s’, the last five
remaining wild Mexican wolves were captured
in Mexico in the late 1970s’ to begin a
very careful captive breeding program. On
March 29, 1998, those efforts paid off when
eleven Lobos were released into the Apache
National Forest in Arizona.
But ten years later, the wolves are in trouble again.
Over the years, twenty-four wolves have been illegally
shot, with only one offender being brought to
justice. In 2007 alone, nineteen wolves were either
permanently removed or killed for conflicts with cattle.
The population has declined in three of the last
four years. We are now down to just 52 wild Lobos
in Arizona and New Mexico and just four breeding pairs. In the Land of Enchantment, only 23 wild
Mexican wolves remain. This is unacceptable and
has to change.
Mexican wolves are ecological pioneers. We know
that wolves help maintain landscapes and ensure
the health of deer and elk herds: in short they
restore the balance of nature for all. It is up to
good management, sound science, and all of us to
make sure that this recovery succeeds. By working
together, we can ensure wolves are able to survive,
restoring balance to natural areas in the Southwest.
Join Defenders of Wildlife at the Co-op’s 2008 Celebrate the Earth
Festival at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church at 1:30pm to learn
more about the status of our wild Lobos and what you can do to
help ensure that their howls will be heard in the forests of the
Southwest for years to come. You may even get to meet a live
ambassador wolf from Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary!
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