Dog owners in El Paso are facing the threat of loosing a wild cousin of their dogs in the Gila National Forest. From 1915 until 1973 the U.S. Government poisoned or trapped almost all Mexican grey wolves. The last survivors were bred in captivity, and now, even after reintroduction into the Gila Wilderness, only 50 Mexican grey wolves and as few as two breeding pairs remain. Yet ranchers are still pouring lobbyist money into New Mexico politicians to stop more wolves from being released in the Gila Wilderness, which is protected public land.
And why should dog owners care?
Much behavioral work on dogs is based on the information gleaned from studying wolves and their relations to one another. For example, a previous article explored how our dogs retain the juvenile wolf behaviors. Without wolves in the wild left to study, we loose out on information that we cannot find in any other way.
It is shocking that there is still any debate over this issue. Nothing ranchers in the area have complained about or imagined has come to pass, and we continue to find that restoring ecosystems to a balanced predator/prey relationship is beneficial to not only the natural inhabitants, but even to livestock that share the area.
Today in Las Cruces a rally was held at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum to urge the New Mexico State Game Commission to support releases of wolves into New Mexico and oppose government trappings and shootings of this exceptionally endangered mammal.
But now that the rally and the meeting are in the past, what can El Pasoans do now to preserve all that the Mexican grey wolf has to teach us about our dogs? For more information you can contact Conservation Advocate Michael Robinson at (575) 534-0360 or michaelr@biologicaldiversity.org. Additionally it is important for everyone to contact New Mexico governor Susana Martinez, and express your desire to protect the Mexican grey wolf in New Mexico. The phone number is (505) 476-2200. The Governor’s Mailing Address is:
Office of the Governor
490 Old Santa Fe Trail
Room 400
Santa Fe, NM 87501
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