Wolf Crossing

The following information is from the Arizona Game and Fish’s Mexican Wolf recovery website as educational material.  While it is fairly good information, it would be better if it were complete.  

There is evidence of several dozen undocumented wolves at a minimum in Arizona and New Mexico, none of these animals are vaccinated for rabies.  There is also a large and rapidly growing rabies outbreak in the area directly corresponding to the currently known occupied Mexican wolf habitat.  Also a point that should be clarified in this information is the fact that the following sentence avoids telling the public that there are literally hundreds of homes businesses and other private property that have been and continue to be impacted by reintroduced and now even wild born Mexican Wolves.  This information appears to claim the impact is minimal and limited to campgrounds and people who are hunting or camping.  See the following section it appears that the managers seem to feel that if they ignore the human habitation in the area it will just go away.

“Over the course of the current reintroduction project, some Mexican wolves that had become acclimated to people and frequented campsites could not be discouraged from the area, even after intensive hazing.  These wolves had to be recaptured and returned to captivity. ”  

Allowing misinformation to be put out that does not tell the whole story.  It is not good for people nor these wolves nor is it helping the program.  

Also of concern is that this information  indicated the wolves out here are wild wolves when factually, the majority of collared and vaccinated animals have been handled to the point of most of them being in the same category as the statement below.  Those that are wild-born and not collared and vaccinated are substantially at risk to contracting rabies and becoming vectors to every living thing they come in contact with including other unvaccinated wolves.  In fact, rabies vaccine has never been approved by the FDA for wolves of any species or kind. We still do not know if it works consistently on them or if it wears off in time.      

“ Dogs, captive wolves and wolf-dog hybrids pose a much more significant risk to human safety, especially if “released.”

It is our opinion that this type of factual information is extremely limited and is a result of a program that is forced to balance real information and education against the constant threat of legal action by wealthy pro wolf activists if they do not watch what they say and do what they are told.

It is one of the many factors that is detrimental to the development of a wild population of Mexican wolves causing minimal damage to humans and other animals.  It is detrimental to humans affected by habituated wolves as defined in the current rule and it is not adequate information that relates to what is occurring in this program.  Is it true, yes nut only partially.  Is it enough to educate the public about this program and why there are so many problems, in so small a habitat NO. 

 To read the information in it’s intended context go to the following link.  We are only commenting on the following two sections posted here. 

from  http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/wolf/naturalhistory.shtml

Wolf-Human Interactions

Wolves can become acclimated to humans if fed, just like bears, foxes and coyotes.  Fortunately, Mexican wolf range does not overlap with significant human population centers.  However, the potential for acclimation and its related problems still exist at developed and dispersed campgrounds within the Mexican wolf reintroduction area.  Once acclimated to humans, wolves pose a higher risk to pet dogs, people and themselves.

Although a free-ranging Mexican wolf has never injured a person, they need to be managed like other wildlife to limit the potential for negative interactions or dependencies.  Over the course of the current reintroduction project, some Mexican wolves that had become acclimated to people and frequented campsites could not be discouraged from the area, even after intensive hazing.  These wolves had to be recaptured and returned to captivity.  Other wolves that moved to areas near humans experienced extremely high mortality rates and died before they could be recaptured.

Wolves in other parts of the U.S. also pose little, if any, threat to human safety, unless they are sick, injured or cornered.  Dogs, captive wolves and wolf-dog hybrids pose a much more significant risk to human safety, especially if “released.”

Attacks on People

Very few reliable accounts exist of attacks of healthy gray wolves on humans.  This is despite the fact that millions of people work and recreate each year in wolf range in Canada, Alaska, Minnesota and other areas.

While wolves can contract and carry rabies, it is extremely rare for them to infect humans.  Although wolves could act as a host or vector for this disease, their low population densities and remote habitat will minimize their importance to humans, compared to bats, skunks and foxes.  Rabid wolves have, on extremely rare occasions, attacked people, who then died of rabies.  There are two cases from Alaska of this occurring (the last one 53 years ago, in 1943) and one suspected case in the Lower 48 states, from Wyoming in 1833.

Nevertheless, humans should be aware and cautious when traveling in wolf range, as they should when near any wild predator.