FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.— Twenty-three wildlife conservation groups today urged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department not to remove a family of endangered Mexican gray wolves from just south of the Grand Canyon National Park. The agencies have announced they intended to capture and re-release the pack elsewhere.

In early July agency trappers captured and released a female wolf with a radio collar, intending to track her to capture another wolf she was seen with and move both wolves south of Interstate 40. Neither wolf has been reported as causing any problems. This week students in Arizona voted to name her “Hope” and her family the Kendrick Peak pack.

“What a blessing that Hope safely crossed the freeway and found this national forest land teeming with deer and elk, where she and her family can thrive if we let them,” said Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Now it’s urgent that wildlife agencies halt their plan to move the Kendrick Peak pack and instead let these wolves live in peace and contribute to the natural balance and the sheer beauty of the Grand Canyon.”

“These incredible wolves should be allowed to be wild and free,” said Chris Smith, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians. “The Interstate 40 boundary makes no scientific sense, and that’s what these wolves are showing to the world.”

“As humans, we often feel we should make all the decisions rather than letting wolves show us what they need,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “Each wolf has a unique personality, and wolves like Hope and the Kendrick Peak pack are showing us that ideal habitat exists north of I-40, where the wolves want to be. If we are serious about wolf recovery, it’s time to let our lobos lead.”

“The agencies justify their plans to remove the Kendrick Peak pack under the guise of keeping the wolves safe, but they could instead help to keep the wolves safe by educating the public, promoting livestock management that reduces conflict, and celebrating the return of these iconic animals to northern Arizona,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project. “We hope they change their plans and embrace this restoration opportunity.”

Background

Under decades of pressure from the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the livestock industry, the Fish and Wildlife Service arbitrarily limited the range of Mexican wolves to south of I-40.

Independent scientists, including those appointed to the Service’s own Mexican wolf recovery team, have said recovery will not be possible without a population of wolves in both the Grand Canyon ecosystem and the southern Rocky Mountains, which are north of I-40. Despite those scientists, the Service approved a recovery plan that calls for just one population in the United States living south of I-40.

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