PINETOP, Ariz.  -  A Mexican gray wolf pack that was moved from New Mexico to Arizona this week is now exploring new territory in the Apache National Forest and White Mountains of eastern Arizona. The Interagency Field Team (IFT) of the Mexican wolf reintroduction project placed the five wolves of the San Mateo Pack, comprised of an alpha pair and their three pups born in April, into a plastic mesh acclimation pen on June 13. The animals successfully exited the pen by nightfall.

Translocating wolves means moving the animals from one location in the wild to another, whether directly or with an intermediate stay in captivity.

In early 2004, the San Mateo alpha pair established a territory in the San Mateo Mountains of west-central New Mexico, an area outside the reintroduction project's designated Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area boundary. On May 1, 2004, USDA Wildlife Services personnel investigated a newborn calf carcass near the San Mateo Mountains, and confirmed that the kill was a depredation by made by the two wolves. Since that single incident, the pair has not been involved in any other known depredations. IFT members monitored the pair throughout the summer, capturing them in August after confirming they had no pups that year.

The pair was translocated to the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico the following month, but they soon returned to the San Mateo Mountains. The IFT again trapped both animals earlier this spring. While being held at the Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility, the female gave birth to four pups, one of which did not survive.

The translocation to Arizona should reduce the chances of the San Mateo Pack returning to the San Mateo Mountains. The Interagency Field Team selected the translocation site because of the distance to the wolves' previous home range, the distance to any towns or year-round residences in the region, the distance from any suspected or historic den sites of current wolf packs in Arizona, and because there will be no cattle on nearby grazing allotments this summer.

Bruce Sitko, Arizona Game and Fish public information officer in the department's Pinetop office, says, "Translocation of wolves for management purposes is an inevitable consequence of addressing human-wolf conflicts. In this case, the action is being taken because of these wolves' prior behavior of twice returning to the San Mateo Mountains, as well as language in the Nonessential, Experimental Population Rule of the Endangered Species Act that doesn't allow the wolves to maintain a territory outside of the recovery area unless agreed to by private landowners."

Sitko also says the June time frame for the move was selected because the pups would only be a few months old at that time. "Past translocations have shown that packs with dependent pups often localize in the immediate translocation area. The San Mateo Pack is not expected to make significant movements until September or October when the pups become more mobile. The June release also coincides with peak elk calving in the area."

Sitko notes that the release site was coordinated with the public and approved by the USDA Forest Service, and that the Interagency Field Team has ensured that local residents are aware of the planned release.

The Mexican gray wolf project is part of an interagency program begun in 1998 to reintroduce wolves to a portion of their historic habitat in southwestern New Mexico and east-central Arizona. The department has been actively involved in Mexican wolf recovery efforts since the mid-1980s. In 1998, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 11 wolves were released into the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area in eastern Arizona. In subsequent years, additional releases have occurred. Management activities have included public opinion surveys, public outreach and education, site feasibility studies, intensive coordination with other cooperating agencies, and adaptive management with the public.