Asha The Mexican Grey Wolf Continues Her Northern New Mexico Tour
It looks like the state of New Mexico has a new unofficial mascot (move over Marty The Moose) in Asha The Mexican Grey Wolf who was captured near Toas in January and returned to her natural habitat in Arizona only to have her return to The Land of Enchantment. It seems that Asha loves the wilderness of Northern New Mexico and intends to make it her new home even though it may not be exactly in her best interest because it wouldn't be a great place to find a husband plus there are concerns that she may become a fatality by crossing the numerous highways and she could be shot by someone who mistakes her for a coyote.
It makes you wonder why both Asha and Marty have migrated out of their natural habitats to take up home in Northern New Mexico?
From KOB 4 Albuquerque:
From The Santa Fe New Mexican:
A female Mexican wolf who made headlines in January for boldly defying her boundaries has again crossed Interstate 40 and wandered into Northern New Mexico — terrain off-limits to her species.
The wolf, identified by officials only as F2754, crossed I-40 late last week west of Albuquerque and ventured into the Jemez Mountains, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish said in a news release Thursday.
Her numbers match those of a wolf named Asha who was captured in January near Taos after traveling more than 500 miles. She was held at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Sevilleta Mexican Wolf Management Facility outside Socorro and was released in June in Arizona, the federal agency announced in a news release at the time.
A spokesman for the Game and Fish Department said Thursday he was uncertain what might happen next with the wandering Asha, whose last location was tracked near Jemez Springs. The Fish and Wildlife Service and its partners are discussing options for Asha as they continue monitoring her, an agency spokeswoman wrote in an email.
She is wearing a radio collar, according to the Department of Game and Fish news release, which allows officials to track her.
Under current rules for the federal Mexican wolf reintroduction program, wolves that leave the I-40 border for their designated population area in New Mexico and Arizona must be captured and relocated. Mexican wolves outside the designated Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
“Therefore, the wolf cannot be hazed or harassed north of I-40 without violating the Act, unless the wolf actively poses a threat to human safety,” the Department of Game and Fish said in the news release. “Anyone convicted of killing, harming or harassing an endangered Mexican wolf is subject to a fine and/or criminal charges.”
Environmental groups began calling for Asha’s protection soon after the state agency announced her location. They urged officials to allow her to continue roaming in Northern New Mexico.
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