Event: Mexican gray wolf presentations August 3-4, 2012

The Southwest Wings Birding and Nature Festival will include two presentations on Mexican gray wolves.

The first, Lobos at a Crossroads, by long-time Mexican gray wolf activist Jean Ossorio, will include information on exploring wolf country and on how to take action to promote lobo recovery; the second, Mexican Wolf Reintroduction, will be given by the Mexican wolf interagency field team leader from AZ Game and Fish Department and will include the agency perspective on the reintroduction program.

Friday, August 3 Student Union Community Room
10:00 am-12:00 pm
Lobos at a Crossroads, presented by Jean Ossorio

After an absence of over a half-century, Mexican gray wolves have returned to breed in the forests and grasslands of Arizona and New Mexico. After briefly examining the natural history of Canis lupus baileyi and the extirpation of the lobo from the Southwest, this presentation recounts the story of the captive breeding and reintroduction of the subspecies into the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico. The current state of the wild population owes more to politics and human-induced mortality than to biological factors. The presentation includes suggestions for positive action to promote lobo recovery and ends with an exploration of how individuals can make looking for Mexican gray wolf tracks and sign an integral part of their recreational activities in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area (BRWRA).

Saturday, August 4 Student Union Community Room
11:00 am — 12:00 pm
Mexican Wolf Reintroduction, presented by Chris Bagnoli

The Mexican wolf Reintroduction Project is a cooperative effort between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department, U.S. Forest Service, U.S.D.A Wildlife Services, and White Mountain Apache Tribe to reintroduce the Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) back into the southwestern United States. Since 1998 the Project has released and managed Mexican wolves in accordance with the tenets of the Endangered Species Act, Federal, State and Tribal laws and management direction pertaining to the reintroduction effort. Along the way much has been learned regarding the biology of this apex carnivore and the efforts to integrate Mexican wolves back into the modern day southwestern landscape. Information regarding the current status of reintroduction efforts, as well as a perspective on the Mexican wolf project since wolves were initially released into Arizona in 1998 will be provided during this presentation.

Where
Cochise College
901 Colombo Avenue
Sierra Vista, Arizona 85635
(520) 266-0149

Most of the festival programs, including those above, are free to the public and require no registration.

For more festival information, click here.