Skip to main content

Gray Wolf Confirmed In Northern Arizona

Support Provided By
gray-wolf-grand-canyon-10-24-14-thumb-630x426-84406
Gray wolf photographed on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon | Photo via Center for Biological Diversity

That possible gray wolf sighted on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in October seems to have lost it's "possible" qualifier, as federal biologists have confirmed a gray wolf seems to be visiting the Canyon.

The wolf's presence was first reported to environmental groups by a tourist who photographed what seemed to be a gray wolf with a radio collar on the North Rim. The photograph was obtained after weeks of anecdotal reports from canyon visitors. After testing scat found in the vicinity for traces of DNA, biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed that a wild gray wolf is in the area.

USFWS biologists suspect the wolf may be a lone female that wandered at least 450 miles southward from the northern Rocky Mountains, which would make her the first wolf confirmed in the area in more than 70 years. According to the agency, plans to capture the wolf and draw blood samples for testing were canceled when biologists found stool samples with sufficient DNA for testing. The agency may still attempt to capture the wolf to replace batteries in the radio collar.

"We are overjoyed that she made it through hundreds of miles of politically hostile territory to rediscover an important part of her historic range," said Drew Kerr, carnivore advocate for WildEarth Guardians. "This is a bellwether event for wolf recovery in the United States."

Gray wolf protection remains a hot issue in the west, with ongoing attempts by the Obama administration to remove the wolf from the Endangered Species list. A Congressional legislative end-run around the Endangered Species Act delisted wolves in parts of the northern U.S. in 2011, but in Arizona the North Rim wolf still enjoys full Endangered Species status.

California's Fish and Game Commission voted to list gray wolves as Endangered under the California Endangered Species Act earlier this year. According to a report issued earlier in November by the Center for Biological Diversity, habitat capable of supporting gray wolf populations still exists in California's Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges, along with portions of the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, and Transverse ranges.

With the recent well-publicized establishment of a fledgling wolf pack in southern Oregon that will probably claim northern California as part of its range, California's move to protect wolves independent of the federal Endangered Species Act offers a bit of security to wolves entering the state. But other western states don't have the wolves backs, and wolves in places like Arizona thus depend on the federal Endangered Species Act for protection.

"This confirmation bolsters our calls for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to abandon its plans to strip legal protections from gray wolves," said Kerr. "The species has only returned to ten percent of its native range and still faces illogical hostility and illegal killing wherever wolves roam."

Support Provided By
Read More
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.