ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A match made in the wilds of New Mexico?
An endangered Mexican wolf captured last weekend after wandering hundreds of miles from Arizona to New Mexico is now being groomed for a dating game of sorts as part of federal reintroduction efforts.
But only time will tell whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be successful in finding a suitable mate for the female wolf number F2754. The newly captured wolf will be given a choice between two brothers who are also housed at the federal government's wolf management facility in central New Mexico.
“We wanted to bring her in earlier so she has a longer chance to bond with a mate and then hopefully reproduce successfully,” agency spokeswoman Aislinn Maestas said. 'We are going to observe her and wait. Hopefully she shows interest in something or the other.”
It may be late February or early March before biologists know whether their efforts are successful.
It's been 25 years since Mexican gray wolves were first reintroduced to the southwestern US. Through captive breeding and targeted releases, wildlife managers have managed to build up the population of what is the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America.
Despite fits and starts, numbers have been climbing, with the most Mexican gray wolves recorded last year in Arizona and New Mexico since the program's inception.
Federal and state wildlife managers had been tracking the lone female wolf for months, waiting for a chance to recapture her. Her journey began in the mountains of southeastern Arizona and crossed the dusty high desert of central New Mexico before reaching the edge of Valles Caldera National Preserve.
She spent weeks between the reservation and the San Pedro Mountains. After showing no signs of her returning to the wolf recovery area, officials decided to capture her before the start of the breeding season.
Their opportunity came Saturday near the rural community of Coyote, New Mexico. A helicopter crew working with the New Mexico Game and Fish Department shot her with a tranquilizer dart and then prepared her for the journey south to the Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility.
It was about the wolf's well-being, said Brady McGee, Mexico's wolf recovery coordinator.
“Distribution events like these are often looking for a partner. “Because there are no other known wolves in the area, she was unlikely to be successful and was at risk of being mistaken for a coyote and shot,” he said in a statement.
Officials said the goal is for the matchmaking efforts to produce net pups in the spring and more wolves can be released to boost the wild population.
The recovery area that spans Arizona and New Mexico is currently home to more than 240 of the endangered predators. There is also a small population in Mexico.
Environmentalists had pushed federal managers to leave the solo female wolf alone, noting that previous attempts to relocate her were unsuccessful after her first attempt to move north last winter. They also pointed out that the wolf's movements were evidence that recovery limits are insufficient to meet the needs of the growing population.
“I think we can say that we know that wolves are driven to disperse as a way to mate with unrelated wolves. In the case of Mexican wolves, those unrelated mates are becoming increasingly difficult to find due to the level of inbreeding in the population and the narrow strip of Arizona and New Mexico where wolves are allowed to exist,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of the wolves. Western River Basin Project.
Ranchers in New Mexico and Arizona have long complained that wolves are responsible for dozens of livestock deaths each year and remain concerned about a possible expansion of the wolf's range. Rural residents in Colorado are joining them as officials plan to release gray wolves there in the coming weeks.