In the Press: Wolves released in Mexico mountains near Arizona
Tim Steller
Mexican officials have released five wolves in the Sierra San Luis mountains of northeastern Sonora, a Mexican environmental group said in a news release.
The wolf release occurred Oct. 11, the group Naturalia said. It gave no specific information about where the release occurred, but that mountain range abuts the New Mexico and Arizona borders with Sonora and ends about 80 miles south of the international border at Douglas.
The release came after years of planning by Mexican officials and opposition by U.S. ranchers, who are worried the wolves will cross into the United States and be completely protected from capture or killing.
Environmental groups have said they hope the wolves cross into the U.S. and mix with wolves living in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona.
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Please write a letter to the editor celebrating this historic accomplishment!!
Letters can be submitted to: letters@azstarnet.com.
Tips for your letter:
* Keep it short, no more than two or three paragraphs.
* Start by thanking the paper for their story and tie your letter to the article.
* Write from your own experience, in your own words. Talk about why Mexican wolves are important to you.
* Some talking points you could include are:
* With only around 50 Mexican gray wolves in the wild, new releases are critically important to increase the size and genetic health of the wild population.
* Mexico, along with Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas, is part of the Mexican wolf’s historic range.
* True recovery of these highly endangered wolves requires several populations that have connectivity; this release in Mexico is a critical step towards making this happen.
* The wolves reintroduced in Mexico should receive full endangered species protections and not be restricted in their movements by arbitrary boundaries.
To read the article on the AZ Daily Star website and post a comment, click here.
Photo courtesy of Jon Kettner
