 |
|
|
 Editorials | Environmental | July 2007 
Gov. Bill Richardson Objects to Killing of Rare Mexican Gray Wolf
 Sue Major Holmes - Associated Press
go to original
| | Increasing numbers of wolves have been either trapped and placed in permanent captivity or shot to death for killing livestock since 2004. |
Albuquerque - Gov. Bill Richardson is calling for the suspension of a policy that requires federal wildlife officials to trap or shoot to death any endangered Mexican gray wolf that kills three head of livestock in a year.
The governor's request for a moratorium comes a day after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service killed a female wolf that was released April 25 in Catron County.
The wolf, AF924 for alpha female 924, had "two strikes" against it for killing livestock elsewhere before it was released in the southwestern New Mexico county over the objections of local officials. The wolf killed a cow and calf last weekend, subjecting it to the three strikes rule.
The governor said the shooting of the wolf is a setback to a program that began in 1998 to release endangered Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico. He wants the federal government to stop shooting or otherwise permanently removing wolves from the wild until the program's rules can be overhauled.
Spokeswomen for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is in charge of wolf reintroduction, could not be reached for comment Friday.
Environmentalists have objected for years to the three strikes provision, called Standard Operating Procedure 13. Increasing numbers of wolves have been either trapped and placed in permanent captivity or shot to death for killing livestock since 2004.
Michael Robinson, a conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity in Pinos Altos, N.M., said the center supports Richardson's call for suspending and reforming the federal rule. "This wolf killing is a blatant abuse of federal power," he said. "It is undermining the recovery of the Mexican gray wolf and is just the latest in a string of attacks on endangered species by the Bush administration."
The governor's request was criticized by Catron County Manager Bill Aymar, who said that "perhaps we should call them the 'standard operating suggestions,' " and likened Richardson's request to changing the rules in the middle of a game.
Richardson said the federal government initiated its attempt to kill AF924 without adequate notice to the state. "I strongly support the effective recovery of endangered Mexican wolves in the Southwest, done in a responsible and sensitive way," he said. "Changes must be made to the protocol for the wolf re-introduction program."
The government has killed three wolves this year for killing cattle. Last year, it shot five wolves for that reason and permanently removed three others from the wild. In 2005, one wolf was killed and four put into permanent captivity. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us