Deadline May 16: Add your voice for Mexican gray wolf conservation

Deadline May 16: Add your voice for Mexican gray wolf conservation

Fewer than 200 lobos are left in the wilderness of the American Southwest — so we can’t miss this chance to protect them.1

 

 

Take Action
 

Now is our chance to win strong protection for Mexican gray wolves.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is in the process of revising its management plan for the Mexican gray wolf right now, and the agency is looking for comments from the public until May 16.2

The new lobo protection plan makes some improvements — but it will still allow for a mortality rate of up to 25% of adult lobos each year.3 We need to make sure the FWS aims to protect all lobos with the strongest possible conservation plan.

Add your name to protect lobos before the comment period closes on May 16.

The lobo conservation plan needs some improvements.

There are several ways the FWS’ plan could be improved to better protect lobos. Here’s one no-brainer: The plan proposes releasing information about where wolves are to hunters and ranchers, the idea being that they can better avoid wolves when armed with knowledge.4

But we’ve seen similar initiatives have the opposite effect. The FWS already gives telemetry receivers — devices directly tuned in to the wolves’ radio collars — to ranchers to help them know when wolves are around. Two people who were given those devices have pled guilty to crimes associated with killing lobos.5

Stronger enforcements against poachers are needed to keep these wolves safe. The FWS should also mandate non-lethal interventions to prevent conflict with wolves when it does occur. Shooting a critically endangered lobo should never be the answer to a problem that less drastic measures could solve.

The final protection plan must include the strongest possible protection for lobos from human-caused deaths.

Take action to help save lobos from extinction.

The current FWS plan does have its good parts. It will remove a 325-wolf population limit and outlaw three formerly legal ways to “take” — that is, harm or kill — lobos. A recent revision also adds some more detail about how the agency plans to reduce lobo deaths.6

But it’s not enough. Some key changes could make the new plan an even stronger defense for the lobos we have left. And with so few left, every individual wolf counts.

We have the opportunity right now to win stronger protections for the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in America, stop the killing, and help lobos thrive.

Are you with us? Tell the FWS that you support strong protections for lobos by adding your name before the May 16 deadline.

Take Action

  1. Aislinn Maestas, “Service Drafts Changes to Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan to Address Human-Caused Mortality,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, April 13, 2022.
  2. Aislinn Maestas, “Service Drafts Changes to Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan to Address Human-Caused Mortality,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, April 13, 2022.
  3. Lindsey Botts, “Federal agency outlines a plan to curb illegal killings of imperiled Mexican gray wolf,” AZ Central, April 14, 2022.
  4. Lindsey Botts, “Federal agency outlines a plan to curb illegal killings of imperiled Mexican gray wolf,” AZ Central, April 14, 2022.
  5. Lindsey Botts, “Federal agency outlines a plan to curb illegal killings of imperiled Mexican gray wolf,” AZ Central, April 14, 2022.
  6. Aislinn Maestas, “Service Drafts Changes to Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan to Address Human-Caused Mortality,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, April 13, 2022.