Chapter Petitions to Stop Trapping of Wolves in the Gila

Mexican Gray wolves were killed out decades ago by people thinking they were making our wild lands safe for livestock. But now we know that wolves are a keystone species and their presence is essential for the balance of nature. At last, we have begun to restore them to the Gila region where they belong and should never have been exterminated.

But they are not doing well for reasons that are all human caused. One of those reasons is the presence of legal leg-hold traps. The wolf population in New Mexico is down to only 15 animals, a reduction by nearly half from the prior year. Trapping for fur and predator ‘control’ remains legal throughout New Mexico even where this highly endangered mammal’s recovery is badly faltering.

We don’t know the reasons so many wolves in New Mexico disappeared last year but we do know that in the course of reintroduction, 14 wolves have been trapped by accident or mistake and 12 of those 14 were in New Mexico. (Traps and snares are illegal on public land in Arizona.) Of those, several sustained injuries to their paws or legs including lost toes. Two have had to have their legs amputated.

One of the still living 3-legged lobos is the alpha male of the Middle Fork pack. His mate is also 3-legged from an unknown cause. The case of the other amputee, male number 1039, is special to me. We live near the Wolf recovery area in New Mexico and were delighted to learn that a lone collared male wolf was exploring the nearby forest. It was winter though, the time when fur trappers lay their hidden menaces. Not long after, we noticed a helicopter flying low up and down the canyons. It did this for hours as if looking for something. It turned out that m1039 had indeed stepped into a trap set for something else and had managed to unsecure it from its anchor chain. He was now free to escape the place where the trap had been hidden, but could not escape the trap. He had to be found, thus the helicopter, and captured for medical care. But the trap had been clenched on him for too long and the leg had to go.

M1039 was released back to the wild but went missing within a year and is now presumed dead. He had no pack mates to help him hunt. Having only 3 legs could have been so compromising he just couldn’t survive alone.

With so few wolves, it is imperative that no threat be overlooked or deemed inconsequential. Traps and snares are a threat to them and we fervently hope the Forest Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service will respond favorably to the petitions filed by WildEarth Guardians, the Sierra Club, the Southwest Environmental Center and others to prohibit these cruel devices where wolves should be roaming freely. -Mary Katherine Ray