Contributed Article

One of the best-known wolves in the Mexican wolf recovery program died early Friday morning, July 22, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

A USFWS news release did not say how the female's death will affect the controversial wolf reintroduction program. The program area includes Greenlee County, where opponents of the program have been highly vocal. Those especially critical are ranchers, who say the wolves have had a definite negative impact on the cattle industry. The USFWS has long been criticized for not keeping ranchers and the public informed of program and wolf pack activity. In fact, the San Francisco pack, to which the female belonged, was brought into captivity per standard operating procedures this summer because of multiple cattle depredations, the USFWS said.

The wolves were introduced into northernmost Greenlee County, near the Blue River community. The Greenlee County Board of Supervisors has opposed the wolf reintroduction program since its inception.

The alpha female, dubbed F511, who died Friday reportedly overheated during a routine capture and checkup. Despite immediate veterinary care and follow-up treatment, she died sometime later, the USFWS news release said.

F511 was at the Wolf Management Facility at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge near Socorro, N.M., with her four pups, her mate, M904, and her yearling male, M919. None of the other wolves experienced any complications, and their health appears to be good. The Wildlife Service expects the two males to step into the role of caregivers for the four pups.

"This is a sad loss as this female has been such an integral part of our program to reintroduce the wolf back into its native lands," Dale Hall, Director of the Service's Southwest Region, said. "Her picture has been used repeatedly for posters, brochures and other outreach materials, and she quickly became recognized as the symbol for the Mexican wolf recovery."

F511 was born in 1997 at the Wolf Management Facility at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. She was one of the first wolves reintroduced into the wild in Arizona in 1998 with her parents as part of the Campbell Blue pack. She whelped pups seven times over the course of her life and was the most successful breeder in the wild population. Several of her offspring continue to range free in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area.

Since 1998, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Arizona Game and Fish Department, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services and White Mountain Apache Tribe have been involved in reintroducing the Mexican wolf to areas of Arizona and New Mexico.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

The news release said the Wildlife Service manages the nation's 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations.

The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat, such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts.

It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.