The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service admitted it killed the wrong endangered Mexican gray wolf during a removal operation earlier this month in eastern Arizona.
The government intended to kill an uncollared wolf but instead killed a collared female wolf, who may have been pregnant.
Advocates for wolf conservation immediately called for an investigation into the lethal error. A Fish and Wildlife (FWS) spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.聽
On April 4, Brady McGee, the Southwest region coordinator for the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program, authorized the lethal removal of one uncollared wolf from the Bear Canyon Pack, which lives in the Blue Range Primitive Area of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. The removal, McGee , was justified by 鈥渁 chronic series of depredations,鈥� or killings of livestock. Those included six confirmed wolf-caused livestock deaths over a 12-month period.
In his memo, McGee wrote, 鈥淸I]t is our intent not to remove the breeding female (wearing a nonfunctioning radio collar) who will likely whelp a new litter of pups soon.鈥� However, on April 14, that wolf -- designated AF1823, and nicknamed 鈥淎siza鈥� by wolf advocates -- was 鈥渕istakenly lethally removed,鈥� according to a from FWS.
The agency has not explained how or why the error occurred.聽The actual operation was delegated to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services division -- a division that has been consistently by conservationists who allege it operates without adequate transparency and favors the interests of ranchers and landowners.聽
In an interview with the Arizona Daily Sun, Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 devastating every time we lose one of the wolves on the landscape.鈥�
鈥淎s sentient individual beings, their lives are just as important to them as mine is to me,鈥� Musser added.
Mexican gray wolves were hunted to the brink of extinction in the mid-20th century and reintroduced to the wild in 1998 after a program of captive breeding.
As a federally recognized endangered species, their recovery is overseen by an interagency coalition including federal, state and tribal authorities. The latest official population data, released earlier this year, found at least 124 gray wolves living in Arizona -- a number now reduced by one.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 not wolves that are the problem; it鈥檚 reactive, fear-driven policies,鈥� Musser said. She questioned how the decision to use lethal force was reached and what other measures 鈥渨eren鈥檛 working or weren鈥檛 being done effectively.鈥�
鈥淲e need to be proactive before conflict occurs, rather than reactive,鈥� Musser added. She emphasized the importance of range riding -- the deployment of trained personnel on horseback who can patrol the areas where wolves and livestock are likely to interact and "haze: wolves away from cattle -- as one such proactive measure.
The memo authorizing lethal removal claimed hazing attempts had been 鈥渆xtremely ineffective鈥� due to the area鈥檚 rugged terrain.
鈥淎ll effective hazing has been done within the Blue River Canyon along the Blue River Road. This is the only road in the area and where the private property occurs. Attempts at hiking and/or horseback hazing have proven to be ineffective,鈥� the memo noted.
More mistakes?
In a press release, Western Watersheds Project deputy director Greta Anderson called for accountability.
鈥淚t鈥檚 outrageous that our government is authorizing wolves to be killed for preying on livestock on public lands, full stop,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淏ut the fact that they killed a collared mother wolf 鈥榖y accident鈥� is completely unacceptable. Wildlife professionals should be trained to know what they are targeting, especially when it comes to a highly imperiled species. We demand a full investigation and criminal charges for negligence if appropriate.鈥�
Musser agreed: 鈥淲e have an ethical responsibility, and this should be taken seriously, and there should be an investigation."
However, before any such investigation could begin, FWS announced the killing of another Mexican gray wolf. According to an April 28 statement, the adult male wolf聽AM2764 was from the Hail Canyon Pack in New Mexico on April 22. That operation was also justified by livestock depredation, and delegated to USDA's Wildlife Services personnel.聽
The decision memo noted that the Hail Canyon Pack, like the Bear Canyon Pack across the state line, would likely soon have new pups. AM2764 was the specific target of the Hail Canyon lethal removal operation.
鈥淏etween the recent killing of a pregnant female wolf and now the killing of a breeding male just before his pups are born, it鈥檚 clear that federal wildlife agencies have completely lost their way and wolves are paying the ultimate price,鈥� Brian Nowicki, Southwest deputy director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a press release. 鈥淥ur public lands should be places where endangered animals can recover and thrive, not be killed left and right.鈥澛�
In a follow-up call, Nowicki said, 鈥淚t is certainly alarming to see these happening in such short order. We鈥檙e also not seeing that there鈥檚 necessarily a lot of thought and deliberation and planning going into these authorizations for removal.鈥�
Both lethal removals were likely to affect the reproductive success of the wild population, he noted.聽
Nowicki said he was not certain if the pair of authorizations for lethal force might reflect changing priorities at FWS under the new presidential administration. All federal land management agencies, he acknowledged, have been put under scrutiny by President Donald Trump and targeted for varying levels of staffing and budget cuts -- as well as ideological compliance with the president's agenda.
鈥淔or sure, the agencies are feeling that pressure," Nowicki said. "But I don鈥檛 know whether and how that would be affecting any decisions yet.鈥�
He also noted, though, that some opponents of wolf reintroduction -- such as the county commissioners in Catron County, New Mexico, who recently declared a state of emergency based on the presence of Mexican gray wolves -- have ramped up their pressure, believing that federal agencies may be more amenable to their position now.聽
The designated reintroduction area for the Mexican gray wolf聽spans much of Arizona and New Mexico, with Interstate 40 as its northern boundary. Some wolves, however, have ventured north of the interstate to the area around Flagstaff.聽
Late last year, one of two known wolves in this region was found dead east of Williams. Officials with FWS and the Arizona Game and Fish Department have not released an official cause of death in that case, though the wolf's mortality was believed to be human-caused. Another wolf was shot and killed in the same general area . No suspects or perpetrators have been identified in either case.聽