Interesting view. The Mexican gray wolf in New Mexico is ages away from the recovery seen in the northern Rockies.
But opposing the wolf hunt is not, ultimately, good for wolf conservation.
Category Archives: wildlife
Radio Telemetry Used To Track Movement And Habitat Of Roadrunners
The home range of roadrunners can be quite large for a bird of its size, Ransom said. On average, male and female range sizes are about 200 acres and tend to be located near sizeable tracts of woody cover. Range sizes shrink by 50 percent to 60 percent during the winter.
A little harder to measure is the size of a roadrunner’s territory, he said. Smaller than the home range, a territory is actively defended against intruders, including other roadrunners.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090731162141.htm
Lynx Kittens in Colorado
Discovery of 10 lynx kittens heartens Colorado wildlife biologists | L.A. Unleashed | Los Angeles Times
Biologists with the Colorado Division of Wildlife have been cheered by the births of 10 lynx kittens in Colorado this spring, according to the Associated Press. Prior to the discoveries of the kittens — seven males and three females in five separate dens — no newborn lynxes had been found in Colorado since 2006.
The species once flourished in the area but were gone by the early 1970s as a result of purposeful killings (by traps and poison) and human encroachment (in the forms of logging and property development). In the last 10 years, 218 lynxes from Alaska and Canada have been released in Colorado, but biologists don’t know how many members of the threatened species are currently in the state.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/06/lynx-kittens-colorado.html
A Problem Mountain Lion
Mountain lion wipes out farm’s petting zoo | www.azstarnet.com ®
Young wolverine makes 500-mile trip to Colorado – The Denver Post
A wolverine has traveled more than 500 miles from Grand Teton National Park into Colorado, the first known incidence of a wolverine in Colorado since 1919, wildlife officials said today. …
The wolverine, a young male known as M56, spent April and May traveling 500 miles south from Grand Teton National Park and successfully crossed numerous highways, including Interstate 80 in southern Wyoming, to reach Colorado.
The wolverine, which was collared in December, is now in northern Colorado, where the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the Wildlife Conservation Society are jointly tracking it.
Bob Inman — the Ennis, Mont.-based director of the Greater Yellowstone Wolverine Program — said wolverines were virtually wiped out in the lower 48 states by 1930. They were killed by unregulated trapping and poison-baited gut piles, he said. There has been a very slow recovery with about 250 believed to be living in the lower 48, said Inman.
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12619944
Colo. ranchers oppose plan for wolf recovery | SummitDaily.com
Arguments by cattlemen not based in real science, conservationists say By Bob Berwyn summit daily news Summit County, CO Colorado
SUMMIT COUNTY — A push by conservation groups to bring wolves back to the Southern Rockies has fueled a new round of controversy, with Colorado ranchers going on record to oppose the attempt.
WildEarth Guardians recently petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop a wolf recovery plan for the region. Reestablishing a population of the carnivores is crucial to bringing ecosystems back into balance, according to the group.
But the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association said the idea of bringing wolves back is based on a “faulty assumption†that wolves are needed for functional, healthy ecosystems.
“We would suggest that any healthy ecosystem has the capability of adapting to the constant change under which it exists,†the association said in a statement released last month. “Constant perturbation is the norm for an ecological system and, in fact, systems are dependent on these perturbations for proper functioning … As one component of the system wanes, others quickly fill the void.â€
But conservation groups supporting the wolf recovery plan said the cattlemen’s position is unfounded and completely lacking in scientific credibility.
“To the contrary, there is a robust and growing body of research indicating that wolves are critical to the ecological health of the systems they evolved in. The subtext of the (association’s) position is that it was acceptable to extirpate wolves and that the cascading degradation of the ecosystems … is also acceptable,†said WildEarth Guardians’ Rob Edward.
Recent research shows that, as wolves, deer and elk co-evolved, the predator-prey relationship between them helped shape the greater ecosystem far beyond the direct effects of hunting, he said.
By the way they hunt, wolves keep ungulate herds on the move, preventing them from over-browsing stands of young willows and aspens.
Scientists in Rocky Mountain National Park have determined that an over-population of elk has caused a dramatic decline in wetlands and associated habitat for small mammals and birds.
Colo. ranchers oppose plan for wolf recovery | SummitDaily.com
Protecting Cougars
Coexisting with Cougars (NM Wilderness Alliance www.nmwild.org)
New Mexico Game Department Regulations
Permit the Overkill of Cougars
Cougars count—let’s count them all. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) regulations allow for the liberal killing of cougars. Make your voice heard and send a free fax to the New Mexico Game Commission, telling them you want to see cougars protected in New Mexico!
Talking Points
Over 40% of all the cougars killed in New Mexico are females. Females in the crosshairs result in many uncounted orphaned kittens. This is biologically unsustainable and ethically indefensible.
Cougars killed on private lands, in big horn sheep areas, or for livestock conflicts are not counted as part of the total hunting quota. Some landowners exploit the public’s wildlife for private profit.
The state pays a private trapper tens of thousands of dollars each year to kill cougars in certain game units to “prevent” livestock losses; a system that’s ripe for corruption. Those in agribusiness should rely on non-lethal animal husbandry practices, not expect a state-sponsored handout.
PLEASE SEND A LETTER BY July 22, 2008, to the New Mexico Game Commission. http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/
Los Lobos
Wildlife Agency Is ‘Collaborating’ Gray Wolf to Death, By Michael J. Robinson, Center for Biological Diversity
One runs a risk rejecting a call for a "reasonable compromise" issued by a public official inveighing against "polarized groups." But the endangered Mexican gray wolf has been compromised so many times, and consequently is so close to extinction, that we must scrutinize any proposed compromise. …
The recovery area’s carrying capacity was analyzed in the 2001 three-year review, also known as the Paquet Report for its lead author, Paul C. Paquet of the University of Calgary. Paquet is one of the world’s leading wolf biologists, and his three colleagues in the review brought additional expertise in wolf recovery, population demographics and statistical analysis.
Unlike the authors of the five-year review, none of the authors of the three-year review are affiliated with government agencies, and three of them are in academia. The Paquet Report concluded, looking at elk and deer availability and not counting bighorn sheep, pronghorn, javelina and beaver, all of which wolves eat, that the recovery area could support between 213 and 468 wolves.
But this past January, a year after the area was projected to reach the reintroduction project’s goal of 100 wolves with an estimated 18 breeding pairs, a count revealed only 52 wolves and three breeding pairs.
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Win-Win Possible for Wolf Recovery, By Benjamin N. Tuggle, Southwest Regional Director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
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Federal agency gets 13,000 comments on wolf plans – Las Cruces Sun-News
The Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—Many of the more than 13,000 people commenting on how to improve U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to reintroduce the Mexican wolf into the wild either strongly support or object to the program. Problem is, that’s not the question.
The federal agency took public comments from Aug. 7 to Dec. 31 on how best to pursue the wolf reintroduction program, not whether or not the program should exist.
The agency received comments from 13,598 people after its call for public input and divided the responses into 26 topics.
Results of poll on feelings about wolves in NM, AZ – Las Cruces Sun-News
peace, mjh
Results of poll on feelings about wolves in NM, AZ – Las Cruces Sun-News
By The Associated Press
Article Launched: 06/16/2008 12:03:33 PM MDT
ALBUQUERQUE—A look at results from a poll of 1,000 residents of New Mexico and Arizona, half in each state, about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 10-year-old program to reintroduce the Mexican gray wolf on public lands in the two states.
—Sixty-seven percent of Arizonans and 57 percent of New Mexicans favor giving wolves greater protection under the Endangered Species Act; 14 percent of Arizonans and 25 percent of New Mexicans oppose the idea.
—Fifty-one percent of Arizonans and 49 percent of New Mexicans believe livestock grazing is good for the environment; 16 percent of Arizonans and 19 percent of New Mexicans disagree.
—Sixty-two percent of Arizonans and 53 percent of New Mexicans support letting wolves migrate to suitable habitat in the states; 17 percent of Arizonans and 24 percent of New Mexicans oppose migration.
—Sixty percent of Arizonans rate their overall feelings about wolves as positive; 13 percent are negative and 22 percent are neutral. In New Mexico, 48 percent have overall positive feelings, 19 percent are negative and 26 percent are neutral.
—Sixty percent of Arizonans and half of the New Mexicans surveyed want ranchers to be required to remove or render inedible the carcasses of cattle that die of non-wolf causes—something environmental groups have pushed for.
—Fifty-one percent of Arizonans and 48 percent of New Mexicans support reimbursing ranchers who volunteer to give up their grazing leases.
A portion of the poll calling for respondants to state the first thing that came to mind when thinking about wolves found:
Arizona:
—21 percent: beautiful animal
—14 percent endangered species
—12 percent wild
—6 percent dangerous
—4 percent kill livestock
—13 percent don’t know or won’t say
New Mexico:
—9 percent endangered species
—7 percent beautiful animal
—6 percent wild
—4 percent kill livestock
—3 percent dangerous
—13 percent don’t know or won’t say
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Information from poll done in April and May by Research & Polling Inc. of Albuquerque. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
Results of poll on feelings about wolves in NM, AZ – Las Cruces Sun-News
Birding Around the Gila
Be sure to read Judy’s latest. Follow her around the edge of the Gila in a great birding expedition. peace, mjh
Following New Mexico’s Southwest Birding Trail « Judy’s Jottings
Further along we are startled when a flash of red and orange shoots from the foliage and lands briefly in the branch of a cottonwood before heading across the river. As we pull out our field guides hoping it is a Flame-colored Tanager, we are equally delighted to identify it as a first spring Summer Tanager.
Environmentalists want lynx protected in N.M.
Environmentalists want lynx protected in N.M.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Environmentalists and animal protection groups on Monday sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
They’re trying to force the agency to extend Endangered Species Act protection to the Canada lynx in New Mexico.
The lawsuit says about 60 lynx have strayed into northern New Mexico since the Colorado Division of Wildlife began releasing the animals in Colorado in 1999.
The federal government lists the elusive cats as threatened in 14 states – but not New Mexico.
Last August, conservation groups petitioned for protection for the cats in New Mexico.
The lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C., complains that Fish and Wildlife failed to make a finding on the petition within 90 days as required by the Endangered Species Act.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Stop The Slaughter Of New Mexico Wildlife
Stop The Slaughter Of New Mexico Wildlife [Wilderness Alliance]
This past Tuesday, April 15, the Albuquerque Journal reported that a rancher in northwestern New Mexico killed 39 pronghorn antelope by shooting them with a shotgun because they were grazing in his "dormant" alfalfa field. Many of the pronghorn were maimed and did not die right away.
A 1997 law (known as the Jennings Law after its sponsor, State Senator Tim Jennings, D-Roswell) gives farmers and ranchers the right to kill wildlife that present an "immediate threat" to their crops. Rancher, Neal Trujillo, who is responsible for the killings, has complained that the State Game & Fish Department has failed to keep the pronghorn off his property, even though the state agency has offered to give Trujillo materials and some of the labor needed to reinforce his fencing.
In response to the public outcry on the killings, the Game & Fish Commission is inviting the public to comment on the law and will be holding three meetings in New Mexico.
1. May 29 in Farmington
2. July 24 in Las Vegas
3. August 21 in AlbuquerqueIn the meantime, Game & Fish took video of the shootings and posted it on the Albuquerque Journal website.
Watch The Video Here
(Warning: This Video Contains Graphic Images)Please call Senator Tim Jennings and voice your concern about the slaughter that occured on Neal Trujillo’s ranch. It is completely unacceptable for New Mexico’s wildlife to be maimed and left to suffer before they die, especially when the crops they were supposedly feeding on were dormant.
Senator Tim Jennings
(575) 623-8331Also call Tom Arvas, Chairman of the New Mexico Game & Fish Commission and urge him to do everything in his power to prevent any future incidences of New Mexico’s precious wildlife being slaughtered.
Chairman Tom Arvas
(505) 293-3515
Vacation Planning
Rabid Fox Found in Sierra County
Written by Bruce Daniels – ABQnewsSeeker
Thursday, 17 April 2008Dead animal found April 9 is the sixth confirmed case in southwestern N.M. this year.
A dead fox found in the Beaverhead area of the Gila National Forest about 50 miles northwest of Truth or Consequences has tested positive for rabies, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish said in a news release.
The fox found April 9 was the first confirmed rabid fox in Sierra County and the sixth to be found in southwestern New Mexico so far this year, the release said.
This latest case was found at the far western edge of Sierra County near the top of a drainage to the Gila River, but so far no rabid animals have been found east of the Continental Divide, according to Game and Fish.
Fox rabies has been a problem for years in Arizona and has now spread into western New Mexico.
The first New Mexico case was confirmed in the southwestern part of the state last year, when nine foxes and one bobcat tested positive for rabies in Catron County.
Since then, it has spread into Grant County and now Sierra County, the department said.
Kerry Mower, a wildlife health specialist with Game and Fish, said the problem will likely continue in New Mexico in the coming years, but will eventually run its course.
The current fox population in southwestern New Mexico appears to be high, and cases of canine distemper also appear to be on the increase in the area, Mower said.
The key to controlling the spread of rabies, Mower said in the release, is to have a licensed veterinarian vaccinate all pets and livestock.
Residents also can protect themselves by keeping pet food indoors, putting trash out only on pickup days and removing bird feeders that may attract foxes and other animals to their property, the release said.
Wolves in Paradise (film)
Building Community
Film Night @ O’Niell’s Pub
Tuesday, May 6
7 – 9 PMJoin the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance for our kick-off event in a series that aims to build community in New Mexico while educating our members and the broader public on ways they can become involved in conservation issues.
Wilderness work can be very serious sometimes, but our "Building Community" program is designed for fun and camaraderie. It is a way to bring our members together; to relax; drink a cold brew and be a part of the community.
On Tuesday, May 6, we are partnering with O’Niell’s Pub (4310 Central Ave SE, Central at Washington in East Nob Hill) to show the film, Wolves in Paradise, a tale of survival as ranchers face the challenge of living with wolves in the decade after the top predator was restored to Yellowstone National Park. This documentary follows the growing wolf packs as they leave the sanctuary of the park and make their first incursions into Paradise Valley.
For more information, please contact Nathan Newcomer / 505-843-8696, ext. 1006
Please join us on Tuesday, May 6, at O’Niell’s Pub, from 7 – 9 PM and help us Build Community!