Anubis Still Needs Your Help Staying Wild & Free in Northern Arizona!
Endangered Mexican gray wolf (m2520) remains at risk of capture just for roaming the forests north of Interstate 40.
Anubis Still Needs Your Help Staying Wild & Free in Northern Arizona!
Endangered Mexican gray wolf (m2520) remains at risk of capture and translocation just for roaming the forests north of Interstate 40.
A solitary subadult male Mexican gray wolf has been living peacefully in the national forests north of Williams and Flagstaff since early May 2021. The wolf, named “Anubis” by seventh graders in an annual pup-naming contest, was born in spring 2020 to the Dark Canyon Pack of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. It is natural for young wolves to disperse such long distances and seek out new territories, and the habitat Anubis encountered north of I-40 contains abundant elk and good hiding cover. In fact, there have been no confirmed issues involving or sightings of Anubis, indicating that he’s following his natural instincts to stay unseen and roam in excellent wolf habitat.
The Arizona Game & Fish Department initiated and paid for ill-advised capture efforts, including expensive aerial efforts using a plane and helicopter in mid-June during record-breaking Arizona heat and extreme fire danger. The agency seems motivated simply by its insistence that wolves stay south of I-40, for reasons that are wholly political rather than based in science. While the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests were temporarily closed to everyone, including wildlife managers, the national forests have since been re-opened, so there is no time to waste.
Please speak up for Anubis today!
Please send an email to the Arizona Game & Fish Department saying:
- You are excited to learn about the wolf and want to celebrate his amazing journey.
- You want the agencies to focus first on public outreach and education, adding only humane hazing options and hands-off coexistence methods where necessary.
- Anubis has not been in conflict with humans or domestic animals.
- You strongly oppose any capture efforts to move Anubis, because he should be allowed to continue on his journey without risking potential harm during recapture and translocation, and the agencies should focus on keeping an endangered wolf safe wherever they roam.
- If you live in the area near Flagstaff or northern Arizona, you can include that personalized information in your letter, but it is not necessary to live here to submit an email comment.
- AZGFD needs to do a better job of informing the public that it is illegal to shoot a federally protected wolf and should enforce serious charges for criminals who violate state wildlife regulations and the Endangered Species Act.
- We know from the stories of dispersing wolves in places like northern CA and CO that it can take several years of those wolves being left alone and wandering around before they successfully find themselves a mate and start a new pack.
- The landscapes of the Grand Canyon region evolved with wolves and the people living in this region want to see our apex carnivore restored. Polling conducted in 2013 has shown 81% of Arizona voters support wolf recovery in the Grand Canyon region.
- We can predict that wildlife species will shift their ranges in response to climate change and Mexican wolves will likely move further northward into the Grand Canyon region if allowed to do so. The agencies must adequately address the potential changes in wolf habitat, prey species, water and vegetation distribution, and wolf movements due to the impacts of climate change in the revised Mexican wolf management rule.
We encourage you to be respectful to all agency staff in your comments.
Send your email to:
Jim DeVos, Arizona Game & Fish Department Mexican Wolf Coordinator: jdevos@azgfd.gov
Ty Gray, Arizona Game & Fish Department Director: tgray@azgfd.gov
Clay Crowder, Arizona Game & Fish Department Assistant Director
for the Wildlife Management Division: ccrowder@azgfd.gov
And include:
