from: http://www.arizonarepublic.com/news/articles/1214wolves14.html

Federal hunters search Ariz., N.M. for gray wolves Linked to several livestock attacks

Associated Press Dec. 14, 2002

ALBUQUERQUE - A pair of Mexican gray wolves believed responsible for killing five calves and a horse have eluded federal hunters.

A team from the Wildlife Services agency has been unsuccessful in tracking down the wolves in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests in southeastern Arizona.

"Efforts are continuing, but it's very rugged country," said Brian Kelly, manager of the federal program to reintroduce the endangered wolves in southern New Mexico and Arizona.

Kelly added that bad weather has hampered efforts to find the wolves, which are not wearing radio collars.

Kelly took the unprecedented step of authorizing federal agents to shoot the wolves after forensic evidence and a rancher's firsthand account implicated the wolves in a number of livestock attacks in Arizona.

Environmental groups have protested and asked Interior Secretary Gale Norton to intervene and spare the wolves. She has not responded.

The rules of the reintroduction program allow wolves proven responsible for chronic depredations to be killed. Kelly said his order to kill the two male wolves is a last resort.

If the two stop killing livestock and leave the 4 Drag Ranch area, Kelley said they could win a reprieve from the hunters.