Conservationists are asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop exploiting a photo of a rare Mexican Gray wolf stepping out of a pen and into freedom because the female wolf depicted in the award-winning photograph by George Andrejko actually died in captivity due to stress and overheating after it was recaptured. Fish and Wildlife has been touting a Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program, but Michael Robinson, a conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, sees it differently. He notes that, “The Fish and Wildlife Service originally exterminated the gray wolf from the western United States on behalf of the livestock industry, and the Bush administration has led the agency back to its bad old days.” Since 1996, the agency has been responsible for the death (either by shooting or by inadvertent means) of at least 2,911 gray wolves, including 29 Mexican Gray wolves. Only 50 Mexican Gray wolves remain in the wild. 

 

Conservationists Requests Feds Replace Photo of Wolf (Center for Biological Diversity)

Welcome to the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program (US Fish & Wildlife Service)

 

(photo by George Andrejko)