ABQjournal: Gila Wolf Killed By Feds By Tania Soussan, Journal Staff Writer
The alpha male of the Ring Pack wolves was killed by a federal sharpshooter in the Gila National Forest on Sunday, the third endangered wolf shot to death by the government since an effort to restore the species started in 1998.
The wolf, which had been blamed for four confirmed cattle killings and was suspected by ranchers of several more, was shot from a helicopter in the Collins Park area of the Gila in southwestern New Mexico.
“We’re very disturbed,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity in Pinos Altos. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is out of control.”
“Any relief we can get certainly helps,” said Gila rancher Fred Galley, who says he has lost cows and calves to wolves this year. “This has been an extremely trying spring.”
A trying spring, indeed. One alpha male is dead, another had his leg amputated and will be in captivity for the rest of his life (probably not as alpha). The alpha female who was the poster wolf for the program will never be free again. Countless wolves have been trapped — a traumatic and potentially fatal act — and removed from the wild.
Wolf opponents have gotten everything they want; wolf opponents mourn. And still, the victor whines. Where have we heard this before, those with power complaining about everything? It’s hard work!
What a job title: federal sharpshooter. He goes in the woods to slaughter a magnificent wild creature so that a few dumb domesticated cows won’t die as prey but on an assembly line. Now he’s sitting at a bar in Reserve bragging to the locals. Mama must be proud. mjh
The loss of the Francisco and Ring packs reduces the number of breeding pairs in the wild to seven ….
Kill orders have been issued for other wolves, including the Francisco Pack.
Federal agents shot a male wolf last July after it killed five cattle in Arizona. A female wolf was shot in 2003 for killing five calves in New Mexico. In 2002, the service approved killing two wolves implicated in a number of livestock deaths in Arizona, but those wolves were never found.