Wolves being watched after attack on calf

THE ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Wildlife officials began monitoring a pack of Mexican wolves around the clock after confirming the predators attacked a calf on a ranch Tuesday.

The development is the first confirmed attack on cattle since the endangered wolves were reintroduced along the Arizona-New Mexico border in January 1998.

But it is only the latest in a string of incidents making for a thorny blending of wolves and humans 30 years after the animals were eradicated by trapping, hunting and poisoning.

The Pipestem wolfpack, consisting of a male and two females, moved to an area north of Clifton in March. Five packs, with a total of 25 animals, roam the Apache National Forest.

Biologists confirmed that pups have been born to the pack but have not been able to determine how many. It is the second litter produced in the wild. The first pup born in the wild disappeared last August.

At least four wolves initially introduced were shot.

The monitoring program is intended to keep an eye on the wolves' activities, not to watch out for retaliation from ranchers as frustrations grow, said Vicki Fox, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Albuquerque. The U.S. Forest Service and Arizona Game and Fish Department are helping Fish and Wildlife conduct the monitoring.

Although the agency initially chalked up the wolf deaths to an apparent sabotage effort, the agency backed off such claims in a response to Congress last week.

Biologists do not plan to move this pack.

Instead, they will locate the pack every four hours, day and night, and provide supplemental food near the den to discourage the wolves from hunting cattle. Biologists will try to scare them away if the wolves get too close to domestic animals.

All of that sounds like a waste of money to Lydia Martinez, 74, who has lived on a ranch north of Clifton for 51 years. So long, in fact, that she remembers carrying a baby on her back and another on her lap when she rode 20 miles on horseback into Clifton for supplies.

``I think it's outrageous what they've done. When all of the ranchers get up and leave, the government can leave the wolves here, and that's what they're trying to do,'' Martinez said.

``The government's policies are putting the farmer off the land and the rancher off the range, and the American people won't wake up until one day they have to pay $7 for a hamburger.''

Betty Youse, whose brother lost a ranch dog to a wolf attack last year, said she's resigned. ``We just go along with it and hope it won't be bad. We haven't seen any here at the ranch at all since that first encounter, and we try to watch our cattle of course, but you never know.''

The first livestock predation occurred in May 1998, when a wolf attacked a miniature colt. The colt recovered.

Another neighbor of the Pipestem pack has reported 10 encounters between wolves and his animals over the past two months.

Three other calves and an adult cow were found dead in the same area this month. By the time biologists found the partially consumed carcasses of two of the calves and the cow, they could not determine the cause of death. Biologists yesterday confirmed that the third calf was killed by a mountain lion.

``The only (confirmed) predation that we've experienced was the injured calf, and that calf is expected to recover,'' said Fox of Fish and Wildlife. ``But we'll be out there watching them for as long as we feel it is necessary.''

Defenders of Wildlife, which has compensated ranchers for the death of the dog belonging to Youse's brother and the veterinary expenses for the colt, will offer compensation to the calf's owner as well.

``We want to make sure that if the public wants to support the reintroduction of wolves, that the burden will not fall on a particular rancher,'' said Matthew Bishop, an attorney representing Defenders of Wildlife.

Bishop noted many cattle are grazing on public land, and polls show the public supports the wolf reintroduction efforts.

``My personal standpoint is, these wolves have an inherent right to exist in this area. Depredation is fairly rare. These animals are not much bigger than a coyote, so I can't imagine they're going to go after many cattle.''

Biologists monitoring the wolves have confirmed they have killed elk.