From: Kieran Suckling [ksuckling@sw-center.org]
Sent: Thursday, October 28, 1999 11:10 PM
To: Recipient list suppressed
Subject: BIODIVERSITY ALERT #210
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             CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

           <www.sw-center.org>      10-28-99      #210
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            MEXICAN WOLF UPDATE- GOOD NEWS AND BAD:

§ JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF MEXICAN GRAY WOLVES-
   DISMISSES LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY'S EXTINCTION SUIT!

§ CAMPBELL BLUE FEMALE WOLF FOUND DEAD

§ STOP THE ROUNDUP OF THE PIPESTEM WOLF PACK-
   LETTERS NEEDED TO KEEP WOLVES IN THE WILD

§ EDITORIAL: WASTEFUL, DANGEROUS PREDATOR CONTROL
   ERADICATION PROGRAM MUST END

JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF MEXICAN GRAY WOLVES-
DISMISSES LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY'S EXTINCTION SUIT!
Federal Judge Edwin Mechem (NM) has ruled in favor of the U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service and a coalition of 12 environmental groups
including Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity
challenging an attempt by the New Mexico Farm Bureau to halt the
Mexican gray wolf reintroduction program. Mindlessly copying a
successful lawsuit resulting in a court order to remove wolves from
Yellowstone, the Farm Bureau argued that naturally occurring wild
wolves on the Arizona/New Mexico border are endangered by the
introduction of captive bred wolves, because protection for all wolves
in the area has been reduced due to the designation of the
reintroduced wolves as "experimental, non-essential." Such wolves
can be recaptured, even killed if they harm livestock or leave the
designated recovery area.The copycat suit made no sense, however,
because there is no evidence whatsoever that wild wolves occur in
the Gila Headwaters Ecosystem.

Even more ridiculously, the Farm Bureau also argued that the
reintroduced wolves are hybrid wolf-dogs. Originating in highly
controlled captive breeding programs, however, the introduced wolves
have been genetically studied and tracked for generations. There
is no evidence of hybridization.
      __________________

CAMPBELL BLUE FEMALE WOLF FOUND DEAD
The female of the Campbell Blue Pack was recently found dead in a
heavily roaded section of the Blue Primitive Area in the Gila
Headwaters Ecosystem. Cause of death is unknown. She was found
about 100 yards from Highway 191.

She was the second mate of the original alpha male from the
Campbell Blue Pack who was shot and killed some time ago. She
and her current mate did not have pups.
      ____________________

STOP THE ROUNDUP OF THE PIPESTEM WOLF PACK!
LETTERS NEEDED TO KEEP WOLVES IN THE WILD
Bowing to pressure from the livestock industry, the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service has been systematically rounding up the Pipestem
Wolf Pack because its members killed cattle on the Apache National
Forest. These wolves were on public lands doing exactly what
wolves are supposed to do- hunt live prey. In removing the wolves,
the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is affirming the hundred year long
domination of public lands by private corporations. Native
wildlife should not be punished for preying on corporate cattle.

The roundup has proved disastrous thus far. Six wolves,
including the alpha male and three pups, were captured and
returned to captivity in July. The three pups subsequently died of
parvo. Though the Fish & Wildlife Service promised to re-release
the wolves, they have been held in captivity for three months now.
Meanwhile, the agency just jettisoned the popular head of its
reintroduction program, leaving the penned wolves and the entire
recovery program in a bureaucratic limbo.

Two members of the original pack, a female and her pup, still
remain in the wild. Rather than leave them alone, the Fish &
Wildlife Service intends to round them up as well, potentially
exposing the one remaining wild-born pup to parvo as well.

Fax and email the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service today,
tell them to put the Pipestem Pack back in the wild and move
the cattle, not the wolves if there is a conflict. Faxes are
much better than emails:

 Jamie Clark, Director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
   Jamie_Clark@fws.gov    202-208-6916

 Nancy Kaufman, Regional Director
   Nancy_Kaufman@fws.gov    505-248-6910
     ____________________

EDITORIAL: WASTEFUL, DANGEROUS PREDATOR CONTROL
ERADICATION PROGRAM MUST END
In a 9-16-99 editorial in the Arizona Republic, the Center for Biological
Diversity called for an end to the federal government's $20 million dollar
a year wildlife slaughter program. Each year 400,000 coyotes are
poisoned with cyanide, gassed in their dens, caught in steel jaw traps,
and even shot from helicopters- all at taxpayer expense as a subsidy to
the livestock industry. A vast number of these coyotes, as well as mountain
lions, bobcats, foxes, and other predators are killed on our public lands
because they interfere with the livestock industry's profits.

The editorial explained that the human cost is not just economic.
Predators control rodent populations and the infectious diseases they
carry. Each year in the Southwest, hantaviruses are reported and
sometimes even kill the people who contract them through contact with
mice. The predators which keep the rodents in check, however, are
not harmed by the viruses. Pet dogs playing on public lands are
caught each year in traps set for predators, or are poisoned by
cyanide booby-trapped bait.
_____________________________________________________________

Kierán Suckling                     ksuckling@sw-center.org
Executive Director                  520.623.5252 phone
Center for Biological Diversity     520.623.9797 fax
<http://www.sw-center.org>          pob 710, tucson, az 85702-0710