The number of elk in the part of New Mexico where the Mexican wolves have become reestablished has increased.
Of course the number of wolves is trivial — only 59 in the entire recovery area due to the defective recovery plan, and the many mistakes and political blockages placed on the Mexican wolf restoration program.
Story: Report: Despite wolves, elk OK. By The Associated Press as published in Las Cruces Sun-News.
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Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
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Both of your “reports” are faulty.
1. The method used to count elk this time is different from the method used before. While it is *possible* that the number of elk has actually increased, your readers should be aware it is also possible that rather the efficiency of counting has increased, and therefore that there may in fact be fewer elk than in prior years.
2. The number of wolves is not trivial – it is merely uknown. There are 59 *collared* wolves in the wolf recovery area. There are an unknown number of uncollared wolves. Your readers should be aware that it is *possible* that the wolf restoration program is wildly successful in terms of numbers of wolves in the wild.
According to the USFWS Mexican wolf site there are only 25 radio collared wolves, with an estimated population of 59 total wolves. There certainly could be more, but there certainly aren’t enough wolves to impact elk herds in AZ and NM. Especially when one considers the number of wolves in the Northern Rockies in comparison and there is still very little data showing that ID, MT or WY elk herds have been signigicantly impacted by the wolves numbering around 1400 up here.
http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/mexicanwolf/BRWRP_notes.cfm
That article was incorrect and certainly not based on any science at all. The NMDG&F recently clarified the information that was bandied about so willy nilly in the press. There is no indication that wolves have harmed or helped elk in this area, however it is clear that one point and time information was used as propaganda in this instance.