Americans for Preservation of Western Environment (APWE) is dedicated to providing critical information about the Mexican wolf program and other environmental and cultural issues affecting New Mexico and Arizona.
This is the place to learn the truth about the impact of the Mexican wolf program on families, businesses and the rural way of life in the West today.
THE MEXICAN WOLF PROGRAM
In a 5 year period, 250 wolves will attack and savagely slaughter over 7000 head of livestock and game animals.
The cost to New Mexico and the US economy for the Mexican Gray Wolf Program will be well over $60,000,000 in the next five years.
CAN OUR COUNTRY AFFORD THIS INSANE PROGRAM IN THESE PERILOUS TIMES?
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ASKED QUESTIONS about about the Mexican
wolf program in New Mexico
and Arizona.
What are the risks to my livestock and other domesticated animals, to my pets or my family and me?”
What is a habituated wolf and how is one created?
What should I do if I encounter a wolf?
How can I tell if a wolf is rabid and what should I do about it?
What is the impact of Mexican wolves on elk herds and hunting?
Photos (warning - graphic. May not be suitable for all viewers)
ANSWERS:
RISK: If you live in wolf country your life, the lives of your family and the lives of your pets and domestic animals may be at risk!
Many Mexican wolves are habituated wolves that lack wild characteristics (see below). They are bold and seek out humans and human use areas.
These wolves have no reason to fear humans and thus become a threat to children, pets and livestock because they are not domesticated like dogs - although they are still wild animals, they no longer act like wild animals. Ample documentation proves that habituated Mexican wolves have come to peoples homes, have confronted humans at close range and have attacked, injured and killed pets in the yard. Photos (warning: not recommended for children to view)
Due to these constantly occurring wolf incidents, psychological trauma has been documented in our children by a family psychologist and a child psychiatrist.
HABITUATED WOLVES: Wolves that become habituated to humans are less likely to have a normal wild-animal avoidance response when near people than non-habituated wolves.
According to Mark McNay in the Alaska Department of Fish & Game Bulletin "A Case History of Wolf-Human Encounters in Alaska and Canada" (2002), a habituated wolf is one “...with a decreasing response to a repeated, non-consequential stimulus; the loss of an animals fear response to people arising from frequent nonconsequential encounters.”
Habituated wolves show little fear of humans. Thus if a human tries to scare a wolf away, it is unlikely to respond by leaving the area, like a normal wild animal would.
Habituated wolves are, incredibly, created by the Mexican wolf program itself. Many of the wolves have been raised in captivity in zoos and other facilities where they are near the sight and smell of humans, and where they develop an association of humans with food. Also, the wolves that are in the wild are routinely captured and handled for veterinary exams, vaccinations and to replace the batteries in their tracking collars. Many wolf pups born in the wild are removed from their dens and raised in captivity.
Truly wild Mexican wolves are shy of humans and are rarely seen. If you see a Mexican wolf near your home, it is likely habituated.
WOLF-HUMAN ENCOUNTERS: Human interaction with wolves - what you can do if you are in the vicinity of a wolf - is extremely limited.
Harrassing a wolf is illegal; under certain circumstances it may be just as illegal to look for wolves to photograph as it is to shoot at a wolf to scare it away from your livestock.
When it comes to protecting yourself if you fear attack by a wolf, note that the Mexican wolf program has no protective measures in place for humans short of actual attack of a human by a wolf. Although wolf behavior scientists have identified behaviors that lead to a wolf attack, the Mexican wolf program itself does not clearly define "wolf attack". The program has no rules or operating procedures for protecting humans from wolves that stalk people - even children!
This is what you may legally
do if you encounter a wolf
at
close range:
1. Shout
2. Clap hands
3. Bang pots or other objects loudly
4. Discharge noise devices (this does not mean you can shoot at a Mexican wolf!)
5. Throw objects
For any stronger action, you may need to prove you or someone near you was in imminent danger. The Mexican wolf program has not clearly defined "imminent danger", so unless a wolf actually bites you or a person in your immediate vicinity, it is possible for you to be considered guilty of a federal crime and forced to defend your actions. You may be subject to investigation at the least and federal arrest with jail time and/or a big fine at the worst.
Do you really want to have to wait to be bitten by a wolf before you are legally able to defend yourself? Please contact your Congressional representative to request that protective measures be enacted for you and your children.
RABIES: If a wolf has rabies, it will likely be persistent in stalking or pursuing a human or another animal, it may show little response to an aggressive defense, and if driven away will often immediately return.
Unfortunately, this is also a description of the behavior of a habituated, non-rabid wolf. A habituated wolf acts fearless; it is used to being near humans and homes. This type of wolf will be less likely to have a normal wild-animal avoidance response when near people.
GAME ANIMALS: Elk hunters and outfitters report depeleted herds; ranchers and others report fewer surviving calves.
While the popular myth is that wolves only kill old and weak prey animals, in fact wolves go after animals that are the easiest to kill and that provide the least danger to themselves. Thus elk calves and deer fawns are a very common target, since even an old or injured mature elk or deer can fight back. Ranchers and other observers of elk herds are reporting that the elk calf population of a herd can be destroyed when a wolf pack moves into the area. When not enough calves and fawns survive to maturity to reproduce, the game animal population drops. Eventually, these herds will simply disappear.
Note that wolves do not eat all they kill. When teaching cubs to hunt, wolves may not bother to eat their kill but instead may move on to hunt down another animal.
Additionally, wolves kill for fun, when they are not hungry at all.
Photos (warning: may not be suitable for all viewers)
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