In the News: Wolf Reintroduction Suffers Setback in Mexico, 4 out of 5 Wolves Dead From Poisoning

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The reintroduction of Mexican gray wolves to a mountain range just south of the U.S.-Mexico border as part of an effort to re-establish the endangered species is off to a rocky start.

Correspondence between Mexican wildlife officials and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed Tuesday that four out of the five wolves released by Mexico’s Environment Department last October are dead from poisoning.

Despite the deaths, supporters of wolf reintroduction in the American Southwest are still hoping releases in Mexico can provide a genetic boost to a small population of wolves in New Mexico and Arizona.

“They’ve been working for decades for this reintroduction so obviously this is setback, but my assumption and hope is that they will continue and make it successful,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, an American group that has supported returning the wolves to their historic range.

The Mexican agency that oversees that country’s natural resources and the environment released three female wolves — ages 11, 4 and 3 — and two 3-year-old male wolves in Sonora’s San Luis Mountains in early October. The wolves went through rehabilitation in northern Mexico and were fitted with GPS collars so they could be tracked.

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As for the poisoned wolves, Mexican officials said one was found in November and the other three in December. Necropsies were done on all four animals and results in each case were positive for warfarin, a blood thinner that’s commonly used in rat poison and pesticide.

It was unclear whether the warfarin was set out intentionally for the wolves. Mexican officials did not provide any details about how the poison was consumed, and law enforcement agents were investigating.

The surviving female wolf is continuing to feed on rabbits and rodents in the area, officials said.

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Mexican officials have a recovery plan for the species and intend to carry on with the program, said Sherry Barrett, director of the Mexican gray wolf program in the U.S.

“Any time we have this type of problem, we’re disappointed,” she said Tuesday of the wolf deaths in Mexico. “But it’s not insurmountable.”

Neither Mexico nor the U.S. has announced any specific plans for future releases to bolster their wild wolf populations.

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Read the full article here.

A version of this story also ran in the Albuquerque Journal here.

Read the Press Release from Naturalia, A.C., one of the groups that has worked with the Mexican Federal Government for Mexican wolf reintroduction in Mexico.