| Scientists involved in Mexican wolf recovery say environmental groups distributing false data and calling for the release of captive adult wolves are not helping the recovery of the endangered subspecies. Game and Fish Biologists say maintaining a savvy wild-born population and limiting introductions of naïve captive-raised adult animals have been the keys to the success of the recovery program. University of Arizona research scientist, Jim Heffelfinger, says they’ve learned that releasing captive wolves that have spent their lives in zoos has been ineffective in enhancing genetic diversity and that in ten years, no captive-raised adult wolf released in the wild has successfully raised pups. Game and Fish has released 20 wolves from captivity since 2014 through “cross-fostering,” or selectively placing pups from captivity into wild packs to be raised by wild parents and with wild siblings. The 2017 wolf survey documented an all-time record number of 114 Mexican wolves in 22 packs. Heffelfinger says these cross fostered pups have a much higher survival rate than captive raised wolves. |
