Wildlife officials intend to capture and possibly relocate two Mexican wolves recently spotted on national forest land near Flagstaff as part of a controversial plan.
In the past, wolves traveling north of Interstate 40 have been captured and relocated to the Experimental Population Area to the south.
Jim DeVos of the Arizona Game and Fish Department says that’s to reduce the risk this unique subspecies might interbreed with northern wolves. But he adds no decision has been made about this pair, one of which was radio-collared in July.
"The only decision that’s made is we want to trap the second one," DeVos says, "and then see what they’re doing, where they go, and make the best conservation decision, where those two wolves play a role in recovery."
A dozen protesters waved signs and received encouraging honks outside the Arizona Game and Fish Commission meeting Friday, asking for the wolves to be allowed to remain.
Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, says the wolves "are telling us what they need. They need to be out here north of the arbitrary boundary, in their ideal habitat, which the wolves and science has shown to be perfect habitat for Mexican gray wolf recovery."
Re-introductions began in the 1990s and today there are just over 250 wild wolves in Arizona and New Mexico.
