The Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project is demanding justice after a Mexican Wolf named “Hope” was found dead in Arizona.
JOINT NEWS RELEASE, Nov. 15, 2024
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Arizona Game and Fish Department
PHOENIX — A federally protected Mexican wolf was found dead northwest of Flagstaff, Ariz., on Nov. 7. Female Mexican wolf 2979 (F2979) was found dead in the vicinity of Forest Service Road 2058 and East Spring Valley Road. The incident is under investigation, and a reward of up to $103,500 is available for information that leads to successful prosecution in the case. No additional details about the cause of death are being shared at this time, except that the mortality was not related to agency management actions.
Mexican wolf F2979 was first documented outside the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area (MWEPA) north of Interstate 40 near Flagstaff in early summer 2024. She was captured, affixed with a GPS collar, and released back into the wild in July. DNA analysis revealed that she had dispersed from the Tu Dil Hil pack in the MWEPA. F2979 was seen traveling with another Mexican wolf in the area, and efforts to capture the pair and translocate them back to the MWEPA were initiated in October. These efforts were ongoing when F2979 was found dead. The fate of the other Mexican wolf seen with F2979 is unknown.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a reward of up to $50,000, the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Operation Game Thief is offering a reward of up to $1,000, and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the conviction of the individual(s) responsible for the death of the Mexican wolf. A variety of non-governmental organizations and private individuals have pledged additional funding for a total reward amount of up to $51,500, depending on the information provided.
Anyone with information on individuals in the area where the wolf was found, or information they believe may be helpful, are urged to call U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agents in Pinetop, Ariz., at (346) 254-0515. Killing a Mexican wolf is a violation of state law and the Federal Endangered Species Act and can result in criminal penalties of up to $50,000, and/or not more than one year in jail, and/or a civil penalty of up to $25,000.
Arizona Game & Fish Department
Federal and state officials are seeking the public’s assistance in the investigation of a Mexican wolf death near Flagstaff. The federally protected female Mexican wolf was found dead in the vicinity of Forest Service Road 2058 and East Spring Valley Road. Anyone with information on individuals in the area where the wolf was found, or information they believe may be helpful, are urged to call U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agents in Pinetop, Ariz., at (346) 254-0515. For more information: https://bit.ly/499j0Vb
Note: The photo below is a file image from AZGFD featuring a different Mexican wolf.
Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project Press Release
PRESS RELEASE: Conservation groups demand justice after Mexican wolf near Flagstaff found dead
For immediate release on November 15, 2024
Media contacts:
Cyndi Tuell, Western Watersheds Project, 520-272-2454, [email protected]
Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club – Grand Canyon Chapter, 602-999-5790, [email protected]
Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity, 801-300-2414, [email protected]
Claire Musser, Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, 928-202-1325, [email protected]
Conservation groups demand justice after Mexican wolf near Flagstaff found dead
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Arizona Game and Fish Department announced today that Hope, a Mexican wolf living west of Flagstaff since at least June, was found dead on November 7th in the vicinity of Forest Service Road 2058 and East Spring Valley Road. No other details of her death were released and the incident is under investigation.
“Hope was a sentient individual being and a messenger of the changes needed in the Mexican gray wolf recovery program,” said Claire Musser, executive director, at Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “The territory she claimed north of Interstate 40 and outside of the official recovery area demonstrated that suitable and appropriate Mexican wolf habitat exists in northern Arizona. The federal and state agencies should be listening to what she had to say and allow wolves to become active agents in their recovery.”
“In every photo we saw of Hope, her collar was plainly visible. If she was shot, the shooter had to know she wasn’t a coyote,” said Cyndi Tuell, Arizona and New Mexico director at Western Watersheds Project. “If someone killed Hope, the full weight of the federal and state law should be brought to bear against the person or persons who took her away from our human community which found inspiration and joy in her existence, and from the non-human community that depends upon top predators to bring balance to the landscape.”
According to the announcement of Hope’s death, DNA analysis revealed she had dispersed from the Tu Dil Hil pack in the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area. Hope was seen traveling with another Mexican wolf, known as Mystery. Mystery’s fate is unknown.
Wolves like Hope and the Kendrick Peak pack had broad public support from the people in northern Arizona and beyond. In 2021, the City of Flagstaff passed a resolution supporting the recovery of Mexican gray wolves in northern Arizona in order to restore the natural balance of the land, and for the economic benefits from wolf-related tourism. Scientists have recommended that additional subpopulations be included in the recovery plan for Mexican gray wolves, including the Grand Canyon ecoregion and the southern Rockies of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado.
“If the investigation into Hope’s death reveals that a person killed her, we expect the Arizona Game and Fish Department to advocate for justice for Hope,” said Sandy Bahr, director for Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. “When someone poaches an elk or kills the wrong species of deer, the Arizona Game and Fish Department immediately seeks help from the public to solve the crime and when the perpetrator is identified, the Department takes action. They have a trust responsibility for all of Arizona’s wildlife. We expect them to uphold that responsibility for Hope.”
“Hope embodied the dreams of so many here in Flagstaff, including the school children who named her, that wolves can return and restore natural balance to the Grand Canyon region,” said Taylor McKinnon, the Southwest director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Anyone with information about this senseless death should report it so our elk-filled forests can once again thrive with the wolves who belong here.”
Mexican gray wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Killing a Mexican wolf is a violation of the Federal Endangered Species Act and can result in criminal penalties of up to $50,000, and/or up to one year in jail, seizure of firearms, vehicles, and buildings involved in the crime, plus a potential civil penalty of up to $25,000. Individuals with information they believe may be helpful in solving crimes related to Mexican gray wolves are urged to call one of the following agencies: USFWS special agents in Pinetop, Arizona, at (346) 254-0515; or AZGFD Operation Game Thief at (800) 352-0700; or NMDGF Operation Game Thief at (800) 432-4263. There is a $103,500 reward fund for information about illegal killings of Mexican gray wolves.