By Abby McDonald
Across the nation, people are rooting for the release of the well-known Mexican gray wolf Asha and her family, but the release has been delayed with no explanation. 36 conservation groups representing people across the U.S. sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requesting the pack’s immediate release.
The Caldera wolf pack includes the female Asha, her mate Arcadia, and their five pups Kachina, Aspen, Sage, Kai and Aala.
“Delaying the release risks missing the critical window when Asha could teach her pups how to hunt native elk calves and give the pack the opportunity to localize on these private lands,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project.
Asha made her mark in 2023 when she crossed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s northern boundary against Interstate I-40. This boundary was set to control the Mexican Gray Wolves’ movements and keep track of the endangered population. She was captured and released back into the boundary, and once again crossed over. Once she was relocated the second time, she was paired with Arcadia. It was publicly stated that the two would be released again after their pups were born.
The release date was scheduled for June 23, and the pack is still in captivity because of “logistics.” They were set to go to Ladder Ranch in New Mexico. The livestock industry has been advocating for the halt of wolf releases, and people are getting worried that the release may be stalled for political reasons.
“It’s hard for me to think of any scientific reason why Asha and her genetically vital family haven’t been released yet, and I fear that’s because indefinitely delaying their release was a political decision,” said Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Asha and her family deserve their freedom, their fellow Mexican wolves in the wild deserve their lifesaving genes and the American people deserve agencies that follow the science and the law, not the livestock industry’s lobbyists.”
The US Fish and Wildlife Service has voiced concerns regarding the safety of Asha if she were to be released outside the designated Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area. It points to the risk of her being mistaken for a coyote and subsequently shot.
For more information, visit https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/