Who's Afraid the Big (Actually, Tiny) Bad (Hardly) Wolf (Pups)?

The Catron County, New Mexico fearmongers are at it again, complaining to the State Land Commissioner of New Mexico that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s cross-fostering of wolf pups somehow puts residents at risk and, “jeopardizes the lives” of New Mexicans.

Representative Yvette Herrell cried wolf to New Mexico State Land Commissioner in early May, 2020 with a letter that discusses the state’s having granted permission to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct cross-fostering on state lands. The letter states, “These activities are occurring less than two miles away from the home of several of my constituents who have expressed to me their extreme alarm and fear for the safety of their family and livestock.”

Seems like someone is not clear on the concept of cross-fostering. It entails moving 10- to 14- day old wolf pups from captivity into established wild dens with litters of their own. The wild wolves have already denned at the site, independently. Depending on the litter size, a number of the wild puppies might be removed from the same den where the captive-bred babies are inserted to ensure that the overall pack size isn’t too great to risk its survival, which really amounts to no new wolves. And in any case, the cross-fostered pups are still teeny, tiny and really shouldn’t be cause for “extreme alarm.” It’s almost like someone just felt like making a stink about nothing, because the introduction of a few baby wolves onto state land is not a threat to anyone.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/06/01/whos-afraid-the-big-actually-tiny-bad-hardly-wolf-pups/