Mexican wolf | Mungai and the Goa Constrictor

A Mexican gray wolf at the Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility in New Mexico in 2011.

Last week’s release of population numbers for Mexican gray wolves was disappointing, but this week there is something really atrocious to yowl about. The Arizona Senate Government and Environment Committee approved three measures that, quite literally, place a target on lobos, and could devastate future recovery efforts. This imperiled population of only 83 wolves now face a triple threat from local legislators including: a proposed bill from Senator Gail Griffin that would allow Arizonans to trap and kill Mexican gray wolves despite federal law; a second bill that appropriates $250,000 in state money to fund state litigation to block federal recovery efforts; and finally, a resolution from Griffin that derails recovery by shifting management control to the state in order to halt reintroduction efforts. This action was aptly described in a recent Arizona Republiceditorial: “Lobos remain perilously close to extinction’s cliff, and Arizona’s Legislature is poised to give them a shove over the edge.

Read more here at Defenders of Wildlife

Posted on behalf of Lobos of the Southwest

Please join us to stand for Mexican wolf recovery at upcoming federal hearings!

We will hold Save the Lobo gatherings at two USFWS Public Hearings on proposed changes for Mexican wolves:

Wednesday, November 20, 2013
The Embassy Suites in Albuquerque, NM
4:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Hon-Dah Resort, Casino & Conference Center near Pinetop, AZ
3:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Testify at a Public Hearing to Save the Lobo from Extinction

Fifteen years after they were reintroduced, only about 75 Mexican gray wolves remain in the wild, and they have undergone dangerous genetic deterioration due to government and private shooting and trapping, along with a freeze on wolf releases to the wild. Mexican wolves are considered the most endangered mammal in North America, and the most endangered unique subspecies of wolf in the world.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) now proposes changes to Mexican wolf management —two good changes and many more that threaten the lobos’ survival and recovery.

The USFWS will hold public hearings in Albuquerque, NM & Pinetop, AZ on its June 13, 2013 (78 Fed.Reg 35664), proposal to list the Mexican wolf as an endangered subspecies and to delist the gray wolf elsewhere (click here for the gray wolf delisting proposal and online comment form), as well as the June 13, 2013 (78 Fed Reg 35719), proposed revision to the nonessential experimental population of the Mexican wolf (click here for the proposed changes for Mexican wolves and online comment form).

Your voice is needed at these hearings to show support for the lobo.

The Koch brothers, secretive anti-conservation billionaires, have teamed up with the agricultural industry to sway the government at this event and speak out against wolves. We can’t let them drown out the voice of the majority of people who support wolves in the Southwest and want to see Mexican wolves recovered in the Grand Canyon region!

This is a critical opportunity to express our public support for Mexican wolves and help determine their future management and long-term recovery. You and other supporters of the Mexican wolf are all that will stand between extinction and survival for these critically endangered, beautiful and intelligent animals.

Please join us as we stand up for the lobo on November 20 & December 3.

Hearing details:

Albuquerque, NM on November 20:

Location:

Event Embassy Suites, 1000 Woodward Place NE, Albuquerque, NM 87102

Schedule:

Starting at 4 p.m., conservation groups we will be offering information, materials,coffee, and support in the Ocotillo II room at the hearing venue.
At 5 pm, the US Fish and Wildlife Service will open the hearing room so that people canbegin signing up to speak.
From 5:15 to 6 p.m. a sidewalk rally will be held outside the hearing location to show public support for Mexican wolf recovery. Participants should dress warmly.
6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Public Hearing

A pre-hearing training call will be hosted on November 19th by Defenders of Wildlife to help you prepare for the hearing. For more information about what to expect and to RSVP for the training call, click here.

To help make phone calls to lobo supporters about the ABQ hearing, email emma@nmwild.org

Hon-Dah, Near Pinetop, AZ on December 3:

Location:

Hon-Dah Conference Center, 777 Highway 260, near Pinetop, AZ 85935

(3 miles outside of Pinetop at the Junction of Hwy 260 and Hwy 73)

Directions

Schedule:

From 3:00 p.m. until the hearing ends, conservation groups will host a hospitality room at the Hon-Dah Conference Center where wolf supporters can get information, coffee, and help with comments.
3:30 to 5:00 p.m. US Fish and Wildlife Service Public Information meeting. Be forewarned: the information presented in this meeting will include propaganda to support delisting the gray wolf and reducing protections for Mexican wolves.
6:00 to 8:30 p.m. Public Hearing on wolf proposals

More details about the hearings are posted on our website here

Even if you can’t make it to either one of these critical hearings, your voice is still needed.
Please submit comments to the USFWS online today!

Click here to comment on the proposed changes for Mexican wolves

Click here to comment on the proposed delisting of gray wolves nationwide

The comment deadline has been extended until December 17, 2013.

Thank you for standing for Mexican wolves at this critical time!