8/1/2002 1174

SUCCESSFUL REPRODUCTION BOOSTS WOLF NUMBERS AFTER LAST YEAR'S DECLINE

Seven of the eight Mexican wolf packs in the wild appear to be denning. Before this season's reproduction and the release in mid-June of the nine-member Bluestem Pack in Arizona, the known and monitored wild population had declined to 17 animals -- approximately half of what it was two years ago. Unfortunately, one of the Bluestem Pack's members has already been recaptured (and the Center for Biological Diversity has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to ascertain the circumstances). But there is unexpected good news, also: In mid-July a previously unknown two-year-old male wolf was trapped in Arizona, fitted with a radio collar and re-released; evidently at least one of the several pups born in the wild but not collared when young is still alive.