Declared extinct in the wild decades ago due to indiscriminate hunting and poisoning of specimens, the Mexican Wolf little by little it recovers Mexico and the United Statesthanks to the collaboration between both governments.
Hunted due to attacks on livestock, it was in 1980 when the last four males and one female of this species were captured in the states of Durango, Sonora and Chihuahuawith the aim of protecting them and starting a binational program to try to save them from extinction.
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Xóchitl Ramos, deputy director Zoo Technician in the General Directorate of Zoos y Wildlife Conservation of the Government of Mexico City, He pointed out that in the country there are already 191 individuals in 24 institutions participating in the program.
The researcher explains that these sites are not all zoos, as they include Environmental Management Units, which have special facilities to house the species and without having contact with the public.
In addition to the five wolves that were captured in Mexico in 1980, the United States already had two other specimens, so the program began with a breeding stock of only seven individuals.
In the United States, he explained, they are about to reach their goal, which is to have 320 wolves in the wild and they have already reached 287.
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Disappearance of Mexican fauna
Mexico should have 200 Mexican wolves in freedom, but their populations have decreased due to the attacks against them, which puts the number between 10 and 15 only.
And it is that he Mexican Wolf It preserves its old enemies: the ranchers, who, both in the United States and national territory, the wolf they see is the wolf they hunt.
Ramos pointed out that there are not so many people available in the institutions in charge of environmental surveillance to have them in the mountains, which has made law enforcement difficult.
And although there is livestock insurance, which pays for the dead animal that is proven to have been attacked by wolves, the amounts do not satisfy the owners, since some of their heifers are imported and purchased in dollars.
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Hope for the future
Given this panorama, comments the deputy director, What remains is awareness on the part of the people who work in wildlife, those who monitor the mexican wolves, and that they speak directly with all the communities, with the ejidos and the ranchers, to make them understand that it is important for the ecosystems to have this species return.
By already having populations both in wildlife and in confined spaces, the program was created Saving Animals from Extinction (SAFE), which issues guidelines on how to manage the species in zoos or participating institutions, mainly genetic, to conserve the greatest diversity in genes due to the few founders of the program.
“Of those seven we have had more than two thousand throughout the time the program began… This is an achievement, it is a success, from nowhere to have brought and now have animals, even in the wild, that is the objective of “This program is a success,” said Ramos.
Learn more about the Mexican Wolf:
Why protect the Mexican wolf? 🐺 Listen to this #podcast of #To livewhere we talk about the reintroduction of this important species in its historical territory. 🌍 🌱 pic.twitter.com/MjbJSSB1Wa
— Radio UNAM (@RadioUNAM) December 9, 2024
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