Mexican Gray Wolf Essay

V: Species Review Attempts to restore the Mexican gray wolf often clash with political interests, hindering conservation efforts. The Fish and Wildlife Service established the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area (BRWRA), allocating land in east-central Arizona and west-central New Mexico for the eventual release of captive-bred individuals in 1998 (Povilitus et al., 2006). However, the land remained mainly public and lacked in livestock-free zones where wolves could roam leisurely. These limitations included removing and/or controlling wolves that preyed on livestock and allowing traditional livestock practices to continue, such as free roaming cattle, rather than changing to accommodate for the presence of wolves. In addition, limitations prohibited

Domesticated cattle turned up in four percent of the samples (Reed et al., 2006). As Maehr explains in Large Mammal Restoration, their diet historically consisted of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). However, in a survey of prey killed by reintroduced Mexican gray wolves in 1999, 85 % of the ungulates preyed upon consisted of elk. Of those 85 percent elk, 53 percent included calves, indicating they primarily preyed upon weaker, slower individuals (Brown & Parsons, 2001). Other ungulates and small mammals comprised the remainder of their diet when their primary prey remained unavailable. Mexican gray wolves typically hunt in packs cooperatively to bring down larger prey. Many Mexican gray wolves chase their prey for long distances, but this remains largely dependent on the terrain and target prey species (USFWS, 2014b). Pack sizes typically range from three to eight wolves, although the reintroduction of a subspecies in Yellowstone National Park calculated over ten wolves per pack (AZGFD, 2004). Their packs generally consist of an alpha male, his breeding partner, and their offspring. Often times, more than one generation of offspring stays with the pack until they reach sexual maturity (USFWS,