That’s the title of a recent letter to the Arizona Star addressing the issue of unknown numbers of tracking devices that were given out to Southwest ranchers when Mexican gray wolves were first reintroduced. Apparently so ranchers would use them to keep track of any wolves approaching their cows. The USFWS handed out this telemetry to people who were no friend to the wolf and they never thought they could be turned on wolves, making it easier to find and kill them? Oh no, that would never happen.
Well it could happen and it may have happened. The USFWS should IMMEDIATELY AND WITHOUT DELAY collect every single one of those radio receivers. It’s not as if they haven’t known about this problem for years.
Please click on the link provided by “Howling For Justice” and read the rest!
http://howlingforjustice.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/dont-give-wolf-opponents-tracking-frequencies/
The Wolf Preservation Blog 
Thanks for helping to raise awareness about the telemetry issue–it’s truly shocking to have this specialized government equipment in public hands where it can be abused, and I hope blog posts like yours will help mobilize wolf advocates to call for their retrieval!
I appreciate it that Nicole and thank you for the supportive comment. It’s critical to continue advocating no matter what the opposition. These tracking devices are supposed to be used for research and ongoing education about wolves. To have it used to locate and destroy wolves is unthinkable.
Hi Michael,
Following up on this thread–the telemetry issue is obviously not solved, and there are some other big challenges ahead for wolf advocates this year. I work with a few wildllife groups (the folks behind http://www.mexicanwolves.org), and am thinking there’s probably a way we could all work together more effectively to share information, resources and ideas.
Would you consider joining a call with a couple other wildlife bloggers and some wolf advocates, including long-time activist Jean Ossorio and former FWS wolf program manager Dave Parsons to talk Mexican Wolves? Jean and Dave can provide a policy update, and we’d love to hear from you what kinds of stories inspire your readers, and how we can get more folks excited to learn more or take action.
We’re looking at Sept. 1 and 2 as possible dates. Please let me know if you’d be interested and available.
Oh, and I wanted flag this NewWest article about the need to hold ranchers accountable for their impacts on wildlife (including predators) just as we do any industry whose business impacts the environment. Good stuff: http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/welfare_ranchers_wolves_and_the_externalization_of_costs/C37/L37/.
Thanks for doing what you’re doing!
Nicole
Hi Nicole,
Thanks for the news article, and yes I would be interested to participate on either date. With the ongoing opposition to wolf reintroduction, it’s a great idea to work together to inform, educate, share misconceptions, and expose anti-wolfer tactics. It’s amazing how many people still believe the fairy tales and don’t know the tactics used to kill wolves. Talk to you soon : )
Great! Would you be available at 10am PDT on September 2? Feel free to get in touch with me directly at nicole at resource-media.org if that’s easier!