The Mexican Gray Wolf - Michelle Henderson

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The Mexican Gray Wolf
Description and Ecology
Screen Shot 2017-10-31 at 12.10.37 PM.pngColor: gray with hints of light brown
Average Length: 4-5 feet
Average Weight: 60-80 pounds
- Build with long legs for speed
Social Life:
- lives in packs
- hierarchical structure with an alpha mating pair at the top
-very social within its pack
-mating season: february- march
-average litter size: 4-7 pups
https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2016/court-settlement-provides-hope-for-mexican-gray-wolves
Screen Shot 2017-10-31 at 12.29.12 PM.png
Habitat:
- mountain forests
- grasslands & shrublands
-native to Mexico and Southwestern United States
Diet:
- top predator
-  ungulate (hooved) organisms: deer, elk & small mammals
http://azcitieswork.com/the-great-az-road-trip/apache-sitgreaves-national-forest/

 Geography and Population
mexican_recovery location.jpg
Original Zone: large range throughout southwestern North America and Mexico
Current Zone:
America- Arizona & New Mexico
México- Sierra Madre Occidental of  Sonoma, Durango and Chihuahua


Captive Breeding Population (1998): 7 individuals
Current Wild Population (02/2017): 113 individuals, 21 packs
- Population growth has remained steady since the start of the captive breeding program
Listing Date and Type of Listing
Original Listing Proposal Date: 1975
Current Listing Date: January 16, 2015 *this is the third listing for this species
Type of Listing: Endangered (80 FR 2488)
- Listed under The Endangered Species Act
wolf eradication programs.jpgCause of Listing:
- cause of listing for the Mexican Gray Wolf was predator eradication programs that occurred in the mid to late 1800’s and early 1900’s that led to their near extinction. Extinction was prevented through captive breeding programs. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/the-wolf-that-changed-america-wolf-wars-americas-campaign-to-eradicate-the-wolf/4312/
Main Threats
- illegal shooting
- genetic issues (inbreeding from small population leads to loss of heterozygosity)
- small population size
Stressors Influencing Their Recovery
- Adequate habitat availability
- Excessive, human-caused mortality
- Demographic stochasticity
- Loss of genetic diversity in both captivity and wild
Recovery Plan
Establish and maintain a minimum of two resilient, genetically diverse wolf populations distributed across ecologically and geographically diverse areas in the sub-species’ historical range in the United States and Mexico
Critical Factors for Success:
1. Resiliency: the ability of a population to withstand stochastic events
- measured by size and growth of population
- estimates the probability that a species is capable of adapting to environmental changes
2. Redundancy: the ability of a population to withstand catastrophic events
- measured by the numbers in a population, their resiliency and their distribution
- estimates the probability that a species is capable of adapting to environmental changes
3. Representation: the ability of a species to adapt to changing environmental conditions
-measured by breadth of genetic and environmental diversity within a population
-also estimates the probability that a species is capable of adapting to environmental changes
Steps to Recover
1. Geographic Distribution
Mexican-Gray-Wolves mom and pup.jpg- United States: Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area in Arizona and New Mexico (refer to map above)
- Mexico: Northern Sierra Madre Occidental in Sonoma, Durango and Chihuahua
2. Population Abundance
- increase abundance of current population size
- driven primarily by natural reproduction but also includes releases from captivity
* supports resiliency
3. Genetic Abundance
- Mexican wolves will be released from captivity into each population
-As of June 2017, captive wolves have more genetic diversity than the wild population
- regularly timed  releases won’t be necessary after the wild population is fully recovered
4. Monitoring Adaptive Management
-ongoing annual monitoring to track the mexican wolf population performance and adjusting of management techniques as needed
-monitor population growth, especially mortality rates
-  most mortality is human caused, so it would be very effective to reduce shootings and vehicle collisions
* supports resiliency, representation & redundancy
5. Collaborative Recovery Implementation
-collaboration with partners to identify and implement effective recovery actions necessary to recover the mexican wolf and address conflicts related to mexican wolf recovery in local communities  /
wolf and person.png- collaborators include: federal, state and local governments, nongovernmental organizations, and academic and local communities
http://www.endangered.org/mexican-gray-wolves-need-more-help/

 What Can You Do?                          
- follow gun laws: don’t shoot Mexican Gray Wolves
- drive safely to prevent roadkill
-donate:
-volunteer:
More Information


Comments

  1. ANovember 15, 2017 at 12:17 AM

    After reading your blog as well as learning about wolves in class, I never realized how crucial they are nor how endangered they are! I also never realized the entire scope of all the land they used to inhabit. I like your addition of "critical factors for success", those are important points to bring up. I wonder if there are other ways to get rid of the stigma against wolves, since this is their 3rd time being listed, what has been done to rid of the stigma doesn't seem to be working. Lastly, I really like the photos you included, it has a great variety.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownNovember 15, 2017 at 5:10 PM

    I agree with the above comment on the point that after hearing our speaker about the wolves in the Greater Yellowstone area, it makes me realize how truly important it is to have these creatures back at their normal numbers! They are extremely important in so many unseen ways. It is super sad that they were just recently re-listed in 2015.. hopefully with a good allocation of resources and smart thinking/planning, they can be delisted once again!

    ReplyDelete
  3. DrWildlifeDecember 5, 2017 at 9:21 PM

    I like how you included information on the wolves' social lives, it really helped to see how they live and what they need to do to survive. It makes me upset that the wolf was removed from the endangered list, but in 2015 they were re-listed. -Rachel Kenison

    ReplyDelete

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