Wolf pack to be trapped after second kill

	GLENWOOD -- A confirmed wolf kill west of Glenwood has resulted in a decision to trap the wolves involved -- the Gavilan pack -- and return them to captivity. A carcass of a 1,400- to 1,500-pound red Angus bull was found about 2 p.m. Tuesday on the Cross Y Ranch's Citizen grazing allotment. A cow on the same ranch allotment was killed by the wolf pack on Dec. 26.
Nick Smith, center, wolf biologist with the New Mexico Game and Fish Department, addresses a group of about 35 people Wednesday at the site of a wolf-killed bull on Smoothing Iron Mesa. Sun-News photos by Lisa Parker	The area where the dead bull was found is on Smoothing Iron Mesa near the Arizona-New Mexico border. Wolf recovery officials arrived at the site around 9 a.m. Wednesday to study the carcass and surrounding site and decide whether wolves were responsible for the bull's death.

Alan Armistead, wolf management specialist with Wildlife Services, was in charge of the determination. Armistead, along with wolf biologist Nick Smith of the New Mexico Game and Fish Department, scoured the surrounding area for signs of a struggle or wolf activity.

Early into the process, he commented, "Everywhere you look there's a wolf track," and said it was obvious wolves had eaten the bull. But, he added, that did not mean wolves had killed the bull.

Armistead and Smith completed their review of the remote kill-site area before allowing about 35 interested people -- mostly neighbors of the Cross Y -- to it.

Armistead then performed a necropsy on the carcass -- mainly just skin and bones -- taking more than two hours to complete his examination. He said that since "all the major muscle tissue is gone it's going to be difficult" to determine cause of death. "It's just like a crime scene -- the more you can see the easier it is."

Armistead said everything is taken into consideration when confirming a possible wolf kill, including history on the dead animal, history on the wolves and location of the wolves.

"We know that they've been here since Sunday and that's time to eat a lot of meat," he said.

Armistead pointed out a crushed knuckle bone -- the size of a softball -- and said, "To give you an idea of the jaw pressure -- about 1,500 pounds per square inch it takes to crush that. ... There's not anything else (besides wolves) that can crush that knuckle," he added.

The Gavilan pack -- a mated pair, a yearling and five pups -- was being tracked by wildlife biologist Kendall Brown, who confirmed that the wolves had entered the Smoothing Iron Mesa area on Sunday.

Armistead determined the bull had been dead about three days, and around noon Wednesday he declared it a confirmed wolf kill.

"This particular pack has pretty much been concentrating on adult cattle," he added, saying there is no evidence the pack has preyed on calves.

"We will start trapping today," he said, adding that rubberized leg-hold traps will be used. To prevent injury to the wolves, "we will use monitors on these (traps) and check them hourly."

Armistead explained that usually the alpha male of a pack will identify and choose prey. "The male and probably some of the male pups -- at least -- will be going into captivity. Probably whatever I catch will for the time being."

Smith added, "We're going to try to catch all the wolves. What I can say for sure is the male won't be going back out."

This is the second Cross Y Ranch animal killed by the Gavilan pack since late December. On Dec. 26, hunters reported seeing the wolves attack a cow. The cow apparently fled more than a mile and tried to get into a corral. It died against the corral gate, about a mile from where the bull died.

Cross Y manager Craig Shellhorn also found a portion of a black bull's tail Tuesday, about half a mile from where the red bull was found. Ranch hands were searching for the black bull, but had not found it by mid-day Wednesday. Shellhorn said he checks the bull pasture about every three days, and had last checked on the 21 bulls pastured there on Saturday.

Cross Y Ranch partners Judy Cummings and Bud Collins were relieved to hear the verdict, but Cummings said she is tired of being "pegged" as anti-wolf and an irresponsible custodian of livestock.

"We're very responsible ranchers," she said, adding the ranch employs ranch hands who "ride the pastures a lot. It's a very labor-intensive way to ranch, but we do it.

"We're in the business of providing healthy beef to the public -- no hormones, not marbled like other beef," she said, explaining the ranch is getting into Piedmontese cattle, which are very lean and have a "tenderness gene. ... We feel like we're doing a good thing.

"I've been a conservationist and a nature lover all my life and I don't feel there's any conflict between that and being a rancher.

"I'm not against wolf releases -- preservation of wolves. I think they're magnificent animals; I would not like to see them go extinct. But this particular program of releasing wolves without sufficient wild prey in the area is harmful to ranchers and the wolf release program.

"I'm a conservationist. I support Defenders of Wildlife, so in effect I'm paying for my own cattle." But, she added, "I really feel Defenders of Wildlife has betrayed me as a member by supporting this ill-conceived wolf release."

Other people at the site echoed her sentiments, saying there are low populations of deer and elk in the Glenwood area and asking why the wolves are there. Smith and Armistead explained that the wolves ranged into the area on their own from the Maple Peak, Ariz., area.

Kendall Brown said he had been feeding the pack roadkilled elk at Maple Peak until about a week ago, and that roadkilled game is still available to the wolves there. The roadkill has been coming from Arizona, according to Smith.

Smith said, "We didn't want these wolves out here because we didn't think they could live in here and stay out of trouble. They can't live right here -- in this spot -- this little area ... and make a living." But, he added, the wolves should be able to survive on native prey by ranging a larger area of the region.

Armistead added, "The wolves seem to do best and cause the least problems where there's good populations of elk." He said in 1998 there was only one case of wolf depredation, "but five wolves got shot, so we decided to move them to more remote areas." In 1999, no wolves were shot, "but we traded one problem for another" with increased incidence of conflicts between wolves and domestic animals.

He explained that with "all these wolves being captive-raised, when you open the gate" and release them, "they don't know the difference between native game and cattle. They have to learn. ... All their experience comes after you turn them loose."

"If 80 percent don't make it, the 20 percent that stay out of trouble and have pups are the ones we want out there. We don't want the ones that do this," he said, indicating the dead bull.

"There might be a lot of these animals that don't cut it." But, he added, there are wolf packs in Arizona that are coping with freedom. "The Hawk's Nest pack hasn't been fed since last spring when they had pups and have stayed out of trouble."

Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity expressed disappointment at the decision to trap the wolves. He feels the pack was lured into preying on cattle after encountering an already-dead cow in mid-December which they fed on. He also claims the cause of low prey numbers in the Smoothing Iron area is a result of overgrazing by cattle.

"That's not the issue," according to Wendy Brown, coordinator of the wolf reintroduction effort.

"We intentionally pushed those wolves up into that area around Maple Peak. If you check around you'll find it's one of the most popular areas for local hunters because of the prey base" in the area, including deer and elk.

The Gavilan Pack had the opportunity to prey on native game on Maple Peak, and may have done so, she said. Unfortunately, she added, they chose to leave that area and prey on cattle on Smoothing Iron Mesa.

	Wolf Pack To Be Trapped After Second Kill
	From the Article last updated: Thursday, January 13, 2000