Today, conservation advocates asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish to allow a wandering female Mexican gray wolf, named “Asha” by schoolchildren, to continue on her journey outside of the designated recovery area.
Conservation groups’ lawsuit sparks updating of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ 2002 Wolf Plan
This week a young female Mexican gray wolf ran into northern New Mexico, passed over the arbitrary Interstate 40 boundary, and is continuing on her way toward Colorado, breaking records for the recovery program’s geographic extent and giving conservation groups a reason to celebrate.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife released its draft Wolf Restoration and Management Plan to the public today. While it holds some promise, conservationists say that it falls short in its statutory mandate to base decisions on the “best scientific data available.”
Conservation groups are urging the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to provide better federal protection for Mexican gray wolves by listing its look-alike species, the coyote, within the wolves’ recovery area. Illegal wolf killing is the leading cause of death for Mexican gray wolves, and the similarity of appearance with coyotes is a common excuse for wolves being unlawfully killed.
