The Haunting Howl of The Mexican Gray Wolf…

One of the most endangered animals in the world, the Mexican gray wolf, demonstrates why the howl of the wolf is so hauntingly beautiful and symbolic of all that is wild and free. This is the sound wolf haters want to silence forever! The Mexican gray wolves fate is tied to their Northern brothers and sisters.  They are all suffering, although the Mexican gray wolf  population increased again this year, it’s nothing even close to the 200 wolves USFWS promised would be roaming free by 2006. Over 66% of the Blue Range wolf recovery area is heavily grazed by cattle and open to mining, forestry and recreational interests. (ghosts of the southwest).  Seven years later there are just 75  Mexican grays living in the wild.

The Mexican gray wolf  stands as a reminder of what can happen to all gray wolves when ignorance and intolerance prevail.

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Uploaded on Jan 21, 2008 by Rick LoBello

“Please help save the Mexican wolf by forwarding message to others.

I transferred to video an old 8mm movie I took during the late 1970s of what I believe was the last or one of the last wild Mexican wolves captured from northern Mexico before the species went extinct in the wild. Thanks to the efforts of people from across then continent with the help of the numerous zoos that have been maintaining a captive population, the US Fish and Wildlife Department and the US Forest Service with the help of the states of Arizona and New Mexico, were able to reintroduce wolves successfully back into the wild in 1998.

As you watch the film keep in mind that this animal, less than a week before I filmed it, was living in the wilds of Mexico. It was one of the last descendants of wild Mexican wolves that had been living in harmony with the land and Native Americans for thousands of years. Their story almost came to a complete end. Fortunately the United States passed the Endangered Species Act. If it wasn’t for that critical piece of legislation I am sure that the Mexican wolf would have gone completely extinct since there were few animals in captivity and virtually none in zoos.

I hope that people who watch this 3 minute video will want to learn more about these beautiful animals and get involved in efforts to help with conservation efforts here in the United States and Mexico.

All Mexican wolves believed to be alive in the wilds of Arizona and New Mexico today, are the descendants of the progeny of this wolf and four others. The wolf in the film was captured by Roy McBride who was hired by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in cooperation with the Mexican government to rescue the last wild Mexican wolves in Durango and Chihuahua. Roy and I were fellow graduate students at Sul Ross State University in Alpine where the film was made.

Most of you know that at the El Paso Zoo where I work we have three Mexican wolves and are trying to help save this critically endangered species in many ways including supporting the ongoing reintroduction program in the Southwest. If you have been following the story of this project you know that the descendants of the wolf in this video need our continued support. Please go on the Internet by starting with the El Paso Zoo website at http://www.elpasozoo.org where you can learn more and get involved. Start with the page we have at http://www.elpasozoo.org/takeaction. The music is from Peter Kater’s soundtrack from the film “How the West Was Lost”, track 2 – Dull Knife and Little Wolf.”… Rick Lobello

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Top Video: Courtesy Endangered Wolf You Tube

Middle Video: Courtesy In Memory Of The Last Wild Mexican Wolf

Bottom video: Courtesy WapiskisiwMahihkan

Photo: Courtesy Wikipedia Commons

Posted in: Mexican Gray Wolf, Wolf Wars

Tags: wolf song, wolf howl, haunting beauty, protect wolves, stop the persecution and slaughter, Canis Lupus Bailey