In Memory of the Last Wild Mexican Wolf (Please read information on this video below)

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 www.elpasozoo.org where you can learn more and get involved. Start with the page we have at 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.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Mexican
• wolf
• El
• Paso
• Zoo
• Chihuahuan
• Desert
• Critically
• endangered
• species
• North
• American
• Wildlife
• Southwest

[ricklobello]

Thanks for the info on the Apache Wolf Tour Video. I will check it out.

[damiion666]

Well lets face it....in order for society to advance sometimes certain species lose out. It is a process of nature. Extinction is a part of the natural world. 99% of all species that has ever existed is now extinct. After humans are gone evolution will continue.

[TheRedWolf01]

Humans need to leave this planet, by force. We need to learn our true place in the bottom of hell. God bless the Mexican Grey Wolf! You are a God! May humanity pay dearly.

[TheAMGLover]

Don't get me wrong, i too love wolves , as my number 1 favorite , because their way of life etc.

But When you talk about 'nature' , you should see the complete picture .

We are part of nature, and yes we have a certain intellingence to do good and bad things ..but human-race allways has had this advantage over other species and it was nature's intention to give us that. 'Mother Nature' will take care of it's own ! If we don't listen , we'll get extinct aswell , simple as that .

[TheAMGLover]

That said , only a few of us allready knows how we could live to preserve all of our nature , then again over the centuries , it would mean we all need to have regulated child-birth (against nature) if we really want to stand a chance to keep nature as it is . This will probably never happen , Human-population will still be growing , wiping out 'nature' as it is , this actually never stopped from the day human walked this earth ! Good thing though we got brains to realize it, and maybe ....

[TheAMGLover]

I love nature, i love wolves etc ..

I too would want to see them survive , however...if they don't it won't be our 'fault' , it's the way nature works .

So many creatures before us have been extinct , once we will too probably , it's an inevitable way of nature. Would we destroy ourselves , by polution , wars etc , or is nature doing it!? Well one answer : we are part of nature ! Giving our intelligence , we should know how to preserve all creature, yet we still can't ..

[crucisatoru23]

that's so sed =((

i have a native american indian dog, it have some blood of wolf, it is so friendly, i know that a wolf is more dangeros, but... is just a beautiful creature, they have a high level of inteligence, we need to protect them :(

[damiion666]

@equarg "That is different. They kill out of instinct. They kill using teeth, fang, and muscle"..U realize that it is also human nature to war with each other. We don't use teeth, fang, muscle, but NATURE has given us a brain to do it with. U still fail to realize that humans are a part of nature, and as every animal has its niche, so do humans. We use reason and intelligence over fangs and claws, but that's what nature has equipped us with. U fear other humans, lions fear other male lions

[equarg]

@damiion666

That is different. They kill out of instinct. They kill using teeth, fang, and muscle.'

We constantly dream of new ways of killing our foes in unpleasant ways. I am a deer hunter by the way (I shoot it eat it, period). I tell you one thing, the biggest danger in the woods is not a cougar (I love cougars and wolves by the way), but is another human being. A drunk with a gun, a rapist, animals if you pay by book will rarely hurt you. Humans , not so much. I fear rape over any animal.

[damiion666]

@equarg "No other animal kills with such maliciousness, hate, and intentional suffering as humans"...This is a common misconception that humans only kill for sport and animals only kill for food, protection, or territory. Cats love to kill and torture their prey but not eat it. Killer whales will kill even when they are not hungry to hone their killing techniques. Dogs, by instinct, will chase down anything that runs, and kill it. My friend's rottweilers did this to many birds and a chihuahua.

[damiion666]

@equarg I am wrong that humans are not a part of the natural order? Did we come from outer space? Are we gods? "Cattle make a poor (and damaging) substitute for bison"...And who are u to decide which animals are "poor substitutes" and which are "quality" and deserving to live? Again, it is possible humans are nature's newest tool to make way for other species, such as the asteroid was the implement to usher in the age of mammals...at the dinosaurs' expense. Even locusts have a purpose on earth.

[equarg]

@damiion666

You are wrong. No other animal kills with such maliciousness, hate, and intentional suffering as humans. We used to be part of the natural order of things, but we lost that, and have become locusts (worse then)upon this planet. Look at how we treat our fellow human beings!? Just shrugging our shoulders every time an animal goes extinct because of mans greed is frightening. Cattle make a poor (and damaging) substitute for bison. Men who try to play god, ends up destroying it all.

[damiion666]

@equarg "but the rate large predators and herbivores is beyond natural"...you're assuming that humans are not a part of nature. I disagree with this idea that we are not a part of the natural order of things. Perhaps us humans are earth's newest mechanism for cleansing it just as an asteroid was for the dinosaurs. For every species that goes extinct, another one finds a new niche to exist in. For example, domesticated cattle has taken the place of the wild buffalo, etc.