The Wolf Preservation Blog

“SILVER CITY – A yearling Mexican gray wolf died over the weekend in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona during what Fish and Wildlife called “routine handling,” according to a news release from them. Members of the Mexican wolf interagency field team from the Arizona Game and Fish Department were conducting an intentional capture effort using the approved protocol to fit radio-telemetry collars on members of the Bluestem Pack that remained uncollared, when f1289, a previously collared animal, was captured in a padded foot trap.

The trap sent a signal when it sprung and experienced team members were on site within 15 minutes. The animal moved the trap into rocky terrain on the edge of a slope, making it difficult for the team to process the wolf. Using a catch pole and Y-pole (like those used for capturing and restraining domestic dogs), the team removed f1289 from the trap and during processing found that she was no longer breathing. Emergency treatment including CPR was unsuccessful in reviving the wolf.

The team on site had years of wolf capture experience and had just completed a refresher capture training course the week prior, the release states. The death was the third capture-related mortality in the wild in the 15-year history of the Mexican wolf reintroduction project, according to Fish and Wildlife.

“The loss of this wolf is a very unfortunate and unusual outcome to a routine management activity that is necessary to the recovery of the Mexican wolf,” said Chairman John Harris of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission. “Radio collars are the best method for tracking wolves and knowing where the wolves are is critical for effective management.”

The Service will be conducting a necropsy at a veterinary diagnostic lab in Albuquerque, to determine the cause of death.

The Mexican gray wolf was added to the federal endangered species list in 1976 after it was nearly wiped out by government trapping and poisoning designed to help cattle ranchers.”

**Special thanks to The Associated Press for their contribution of this article and reposted through “Lobos of the Southwest,” http://www.mexicanwolves.org/index.php/news/1082/51/Young-Mexican-gray-wolf-dies-during-handling-in-Arizona