U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made revisions to the management regulations regarding the Mexican wolf.
The new changes include modified population and new genetic objectives and temporarily restricts three forms of take within the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area in Arizona and New Mexico under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act, according to a June 30 news release.
"This revision to the Mexican wolf 10(j) rule ensures we are on the best path toward recovery while continuing to provide a variety of tools to manage for conflict on the landscape," FWS Southwest Regional Director Amy Lueders said in the news release. "We look forward to continued collaboration with our state, federal and Tribal partners in ensuring the experimental population contributes to long-term conservation and recovery while also minimizing impacts on livestock operators, local communities and other wildlife."
The FWS also finalized a determination to maintain the nonessential status of the experimental population, according to the release. The revised rule was developed in response to a court-ordered remand of the 2015 10(j) rule by the District Court of Arizona.
The final revision and ruling is expected to go into effect Aug. 1, which is 30 days after its publication on the federal register.
The Center for Biological Diversity said the new rule rejected "science-based reforms necessary to increase genetic diversity by releasing captive-born wolves in optimal conditions, according to a June 30 release.
“This rule won’t alleviate the Mexican wolf’s dire genetic plight,” said Michael Robinson at the Center for Biological Diversity, according to the Center's release. “It’s a missed opportunity to return to releasing genetically diverse wolf families and prioritizing their survival.”
The statement was critical of FWS' cross-fostering programs, which in 2015 replaced wolf releases in the wild, according to the Center's release. The following year, FWS began releasing captive-born pups into wild wolf the dens without their parents. Of the 72 wolf pups released from 2016 through the end of last year, 29 died, 27 disappeared and 16 made it to their first birthday. Of the latter group, 13 survived to age two.
The final rule revision sets a population gene enhancement goal of nine more captive-born pups surviving in the wild to age two by 2030. If FWS meets that goal, the rule will allow state game agencies to kill wolves who prey on game species such as elk or deer and local livestock which could remove "genetically important wolves" released from captivity, the Center said.
'"It's astonishing that having lost multiple lawsuits over its recklessly unscientific treatment of wolves and their unique genetics, the government just wants to keep killing wolves and limiting wolf releases," Robinson said in the statement. "The agency is betting the Mexican wolf's entire future on a failed predator-control model and an obstinate refusal to release these profoundly social animals as families, which is how reintroduction successfully began a quarter century ago."
