Wolves in the north and south

Information surfaced recently that a female Mexican wolf was lethally removed for repeatedly preying on cattle along the Mexican-Arizona border. This was the first time in over a decade that a wildlife agency has taken lethal action against a Mexican wolf, which is listed as endangered. The female wolf was said to be from the Diamond pack according to several mainstream media reports and outcry from environmental groups, though no official notice could be found. According to a report by the Associated Press, the White Mountain Apache Tribe requested the wolf’s removal after three calves were killed in a few days in June. One other confirmed wolf kill and a suspected wolf kill occurred shortly after the request was made. The female was specifically targeted because GPS data from her collar indicated she was in the areas where the cattle were killed at the times the attacks were estimated to have happened. To the north, in Washington, a new two-wolf pack has been sighted and is already implicated in one cattle death. One of the wolves is thought to have broken off from the Dirty Shirt pack in northeastern Washington, while the other is thought to have migrated down from British Columbia just north of the border. It is not yet certain that the two wolves have formed a pack or if they killed the cow, but GPS data from their collars put them in close proximity to each other, and to the kill.