SILVER CITY, N.M.— Just two weeks after a legal challenge by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has rescinded a permit it had granted itself and other federal and state agencies to trap wolves that cross into Arizona and New Mexico from Mexico. The contested “take permit” authorized wolves to be trapped and kept indefinitely in captivity, even though by law those wolves should be fully protected under the Endangered Species Act. Continue reading →

SILVER CITY, N.M.— Fifteen thousand people from around the country are calling on Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to investigate the apparent killing of a Mexican gray wolf by a Wildlife Services employee and the subsequent cover-up of the incident. Although the killing happened months ago in New Mexico, the public didn’t learn about it until it was reported by the Albuquerque Journal on April 4th. Wildlife Services, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has refused to publicly discuss the killing. Continue reading →

SILVER CITY, N.M.— Pup births boosted the number of endangered Mexican gray wolves in the wild in the Southwest for the third year in a row, according to a new census conducted by federal, state and tribal agencies. The count of 75 wolves, including 38 in New Mexico and 37 in Arizona, compares to 58 a year ago and 50 at the beginning of 2011. However, the number of breeding pairs decreased from six in the last count to just three today. Continue reading →

SILVER CITY, N.M.— A four-year stalemate in federal efforts to reintroduce Mexican gray wolves to the Southwest took another step backward last week when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recaptured a male wolf only three weeks after his release into the wild. Continue reading →