Horse killed by wolf pack in southwestern NM (TV Report)

[Ranchy]

Horse killed by wolf pack in southwestern NM

File


Last Update: 01/31/2007 11:40:11 AM
By: Associated Press


SILVER CITY, N.M. (AP) - The US Fish and Wildlife Service says a pack of endangered Mexican gray wolves has killed a horse belonging to a Catron County family.

Mark Miller and his family returned to their homestead on the Diamond Creek in southwestern New Mexico about three weeks ago to find the remains of their horse.

Tracks show the wolves apparently chased the horse from a pasture into a corral and killed it.

Miller says his family has tried yelling at the wolves, throwing rocks and installing noisemakers, but he says the pack continues to be a problem.

A Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman, Elizabeth Slown, says the wolf reintroduction team will wait for the weather to clear a bit before trying to trap the pack's Alpha male wolf.



(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

http://www.kobtv.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=30097&cat=NMTOPSTORIES



GO to the above link and at the bottom of the page you can and should post your feedback!!!

 

[Tap]

Well doesn't that make you feel good. #**#& tree huggers.

 

[Ranchy]

I hear ya, Tap...........

Here's the next one, seems like this story is flooding the local newscasts today........This one is a little more detailed, longer, etc. Better story all around, in my opinion. I think they're shorting the estimated wolf population, though.


KVOA Tucson
Horse killed by endangered wolf pack



SILVER CITY, N.M. -- A horse belonging to a Catron County family has been killed by a pack of endangered Mexican gray wolves, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.


Mark Miller and his family returned to their homestead on the Diamond Creek in southwestern New Mexico about three weeks ago to find the remains of their horse. Tracks show the wolves apparently chased the horse from a pasture into a corral and killed it.

Miller said his family has tried yelling at the wolves, throwing rocks and installing noisemakers, but the Aspen Pack _ particularly the alpha male _ continues to be problematic.

Miller said personnel with the wolf reintroduction team responded quickly to the report of the horse kill, but he thinks they may be just giving the family "lip service."

Elizabeth Slown, a Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman based in Albuquerque, said attempts by the team to scare the male wolf from Miller's property haven't been successful and that helicopters have searched for the wolf three times in an effort to dart it.

"It hasn't worked," Slown said. "We would like to try trapping it, but we are waiting for the weather to clear up a bit. We know the wolf is a problem because hazing hasn't modified its behavior."

Miller and his wife said they are concerned about their 8-year-old daughter's safety. They also have plans to establish a camp on their property for kids interested in learning about the outdoors and hunting.

"We're not against predators, but this pack is literally on our doorstep," Mary Miller said.

Federal biologists began releasing wolves on the Arizona-New Mexico border in 1998 to re-establish the species in part of its historic range after it had been hunted to the brink of extinction in the early 1900s.

A recent survey showed 29 wolves in the wild in New Mexico and another 30 in Arizona.

The Aspen Pack was removed from the Blue River area of Arizona because of similar problems and was relocated to the Gila Wilderness in 2005. The animals seemed to be doing well until October, when their behavior began warranting more aggressive hazing.

 

[Ranchy]

For information purposes, all of you should know that even though it is a confirmed wolf kill attributed to the Aspen pack. some government employees and environmental groups are now spreading false information about the horse having been killed by colic not an attack.
This information is going out pretty much everywhere that the horse kill has affected people and they have become active about it. We have heard it from Beaverhead NM and people in Silver City are also relaying that they are now hearing it. It is simply not true.
This is a confirmed wolf kill the evidence is clear and the blood trail is certainly not indicative of colic.



What will they come up with next, to protect their little darlings? :?