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\ SOUTHWEST BIODIVERSITY ALERT
#159
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11-11-98
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\ SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
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\ http://www.sw-center.org
/
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1. WILDLIFE AGENCY ADMITS FIVE
GREY WOLVES KILLED BY SHOOTERS,
BELIEVES REINTRODUCTION PROGRAM
BEING SABATOGED
2. SUIT TO PROTECT 3.4 MILLION ACRES OF DESERT FROM
OVERGRAZING
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WILDLIFE AGENCY ADMITS FIVE GREY WOLVES KILLED BY
SHOOTERS,
BELIEVES REINTRODUCTION PROGRAM BEING SABATOGED
After being pressured and
sued to release information
about the suspicious deaths of several endangered
Mexican
grey wolves, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service admitted
today
that four of the wolves were shot, and a fifth
likely died because its mother
was shot.
The first wolf was shot in April by Richard Humprheys.
The
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service refused to prosecute him even
though
he clearly changed his story after learning that
self-defense is the only
acceptible reason for killing an
endangered species. His claim that the wolf
was charging
his family was contradicted by the forensics report
which
determined the wolf was shot from the side while standing
still.
After being freed from possible charges, Humphreys
and the killer of a
Montana grizzly bear were the featured
speakers at an anti-enviromental
gathering in Glenwood, NM.
The second wolf was shot in August, the third
in October,
and the fourth last Saturday. The first wild born Mexican
grey
wolf is missing and presumed dead. Its mother was one
of the murdered wolves.
The agency previously claimed she
was killed by a lion, but now admits she
was shot.
The Fish & Wildlife Service is likely correct that an
effort
is underway to undermine the reintroduction program, but is
itself
to blame for refusing to prosecute the first killing,
sending a message that
killing wolves will be tolerated.
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SUIT TO PROTECT 3.4 MILLION ACRES OF DESERT
FROM OVERGRAZING
The Southwest Center officially notified the U.S. Fish
&
Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the
National
Park Service on 11-9-98 that it will file suit
against grazing on 3.4 million
acres of public lands in
southern California, northwestern Arizona, southern
Nevada,
and southwestern Utah to protect the endangered desert
tortoise.
The BLM and Park Service have refused to implement
mandatory plans designed
to protect the tortiose from
habitat loss and stomping by cattle. The Fish
& Wildlife
Service, meanwhile, has refused to require
adequate
mitigation for the damage that livestock do to the fragile
desert
environment. It is permitting grazing within the
tortoise's critical habitat
even though its own Tortoise
Recovery Plan calls for the phasing out of all
grazing
within specified critical habitat
areas.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Kierán
Suckling
ksuckling@sw-center.org
Executive
Director
520.623.5252 phone
Southwest Center for Biological
Diversity 520.623.9797 fax
http://www.sw-center.org
pob 710, tucson, az 85702-710