CHECK OUT THIS HUBRIS Species Reintroduction: Why it is a BAD IDEA

Reintroduction: Playing Dr. Frankenstein with Community Biology Does not guarantee survival of the population Does not necessarily re-establish keystone species Disrupts emerging ecological balance Frustrates natural selection and adaptation (fig.1) Does not alleviate the original cause of extirpation Extinction is a natural part of ecology.

The Mexican subspecies of gray wolf was listed as endangered in 1976; and in 1998 the subspecies was down to 175 animals, all in captivity. A federal program to reintroduce the wolf in the American southwest has run into problems similar to those in Yellowstone. The wolves are being released in the Blue Range of the Apache National Forest within the Gila Headwaters Ecosystem along the Arizona - New Mexico border. Of 11 wolves released in January 1998, one was shot by a threatened camper, three were shot by unknown individuals, one disappeared and three had to be recaptured because they did not adjust well to life in the wild. The remaining three were all males. The second release involved nine wolves in two packs released in March 1998, of which four are still in the wild. Two more were released in November 1998 and four more in March Following the Yellowstone example, the livestock industry has used a lawsuit to try to stop the Mexican gray wolf recovery program. The industry claims that the wolves should be removed from the Gila Headwaters Ecosystem, because wild wolves already exist there, and because the introduced wolves are coyote/wolf hybrids. Federal and academic scientists dispute both claims. Mexican Gray Wolf. A Case Study The Mexican Wolf is very Rar, but we are using this stuffed plushed toy as a visual aid. See how fierce and dangetrous this wolf can be?

Species Adaptation (fig.1)

Hey, how about we not play God? Reintroduction is: Expensive Artificial Politically untenable

Hubris, Jurassic Park & Moral Relativism The Human Attitude toward Wildlife

The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement "May we live long and die out"