15
Dec
Initial Release & Translocation Proposal for 2018
Public comment period is open for U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s 2018 plan for wild Mexican gray wolves.
Submit comments by December 29th!
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has created their annual Initial Release and Translocation Plan for 2018, which will guide their work to recover Mexican gray wolves in the next year. They will accept public comment on the plan through December 29th.
We need more releases of family groups and/or breeding pairs!
Mexican gray wolves have very little time left to overcome the genetic crisis they are now in. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must act fast to get more genes from the captive population into the wild population, and releases of adult wolves and family packs from captivity is the fastest way to do it. Cross fostering (placing captive born pups into wild dens to be raised by a wild pack) is a start, but alone it will not be enough to solve the inbreeding problem Mexican gray wolves face.
~Please put a call for more adult releases in your comments~
Below are our greatest concerns about the plan. If you use any of these talking points in your comments, please personalize them and write in your own words.
- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should include family groups in their release plan. Recovery won’t succeed unless they use all tools available to them, including the proven method of releasing family groups that include adult wolves.
- Cross fostering is one tool for improving the wild population’s genetic health, but it’s not enough. Many more wolves should be released this year from the hundreds in captive breeding programs. Rather than relying solely on cross-fostering, the Service should also release adults and families of wolves from captivity.
- Cross fostered pups will not contribute genetically to the wild population until they reach breeding age (2 years). The release of adults from the captive breeding program would result in a faster infusion of new genetics into the wild population.
- The wild population of Mexican wolves is at tremendous risk due to its small size and genetics. There are hundreds of wolves in the captive breeding program whose genes are not represented in the wild population.
- If captive pups were to be released with their parents, that would immediately put more genetically diverse, breeding wolves into the wild, instead of having to wait for the pups to reach breeding age and mate, which would take two or more years.
Submit comments by December 29th
You may submit written responses by one of the following methods:
1) Electronically: You may email mexicanwolfcomments@fws.gov.
Responses submitted electronically must be received by 11:59pm Mountain Time on December 29th, 2017
2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail to:
Mexican Wolf Recovery Program, Attn 2018 Proposed Releases in NM
2105 Osuna Rd NE
Albuquerque, NM 87113
Responses submitted by U.S. mail must be received by December 29th, 2017
Thank you for all your work to save the Mexican gray wolf!
