The USDA Wildlife Services Wildlife Specialist “Mistook” it for a Coyote

The Endangered Species Act affords protection against unauthorized take of the Mexican gray wolves, and makes it a criminal offense to kill one. 16 U.S.C. §1540(b). The Final Rule for the reintroduction of Mexican gray wolves codifies the prohibition against killing the wolves and in an accompanying Federal Register notice, the USFWS states that shooting a reintroduced wolf by mistake would not be an adequate defense against criminal changes. 63 Fed.Reg. 1758-1759 (Jan 12. 1998).

So, how is it that on January 19, 2013, a Wildlife Services “Wildlife Specialist” with the U.S. Department of Agriculture shot and killed a young, female Mexican gray wolf (#1288) from the San Mateo Pack in New Mexico and managed to avoid federal prosecution?

Because he “ thought it was a coyote.”

That’s right. The same person who has been a lead investigator of Mexican wolf related livestock depredations in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area of New Mexico for approximately seven years. A person who is an experienced hobby trapper. A “specialist” who reportedly watched the canid for “several minutes” through the scope on his hunting rifle. A person who had been called to the scene to investigate whether wolves were responsible for a livestock depredation and who knew wolves were on site the day prior.

This federal agent “mistook” a yearling wolf (40 lbs) for a coyote (25-30lbs) and is still on the job.

According to the investigation report obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and linked here, here’s how the whole thing apparently went down:

A pack of ten wolves were reported at the ranch headquarters on 1-18-13 and the [ranch employee] reported shooting [his] rifle into the air to scare the wolves away from the residence. When a cow carcass was found in the immediate vicinity the following day (1-19-13), [he] called the MGWRP to report the possible depredation.

On January 19, 2013, the [redacted] government agent was checking his personal traps on his day off when he was called to investigate the dead cow. Upon arriving at the location, the agent used [his] radio telemetry equipment to determine there were no collared wolves in the area on the 19th, and the investigation was inconclusive as to the cause of death of the cow. No sign of wolves was seen in the vicinity of the cow carcass.

However, someone told the agent that [he] had seen a calf with a bloodied ear about ¼ mile away the day previous (January 18). [He] and the ranch employee went to that area to find the calf and look for signs of wolves there. On the way, they encountered a canid running 300 to 400 yards from the road and so they traveled within 250 yards and observed it “for several minutes” through a scope. [In another section of the investigation, someone reports that [he] shot a coyote that “was eating on the calf carcass when they drove up.”] [He] proceeded to “bark” at the canine and then shot it with one shot from his government issued firearm.

Then, the agent and [his] companion went towards the area the canine was running from and found a fresh calf carcass, which was determined to have been due to a Mexican gray wolf. Then the agent went back to the canine carcass and discovered it was a young wolf pup. [He] then moved the carcass and called a contact at the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Project (MGWRP) and was instructed to contact US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement.

Supposedly, the wolf killer was very distraught that [he] had shot and killed a wolf and “stated numerous times that [he] was afraid [he] was going to lose [his] job over the incident.”

If only.

Instead, after the US Fish and Wildlife Service completed its investigation and turned the materials over to the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute. The alleged misidentification of the wolf fell under the DOJ’s so-called McKittrick Policy. This discretionary policy of the Department of Justice (DOJ) precludes prosecution of individuals for the illegal killing of an Endangered Species Act-listed species unless the government can prove the defendant knew the biological identity of the animal s/he was killing.

The Biological Opinion of Mexican Wolf Reintroduction states that there is a slight potential for Wildlife Services agents to mistakenly shoot a wolf believing it was a coyote. Page # 63 the BioOp says: WS agents “shall be knowledgeable at a professional level in identification of Mexican wolf . . .”

In this instance, the “Wildlife Specialist” working for WS either knew that s/he was shooting at a Mexican gray wolf or this “specialist” is woefully underqualified for the position s/he fills. In either case, the agent should be removed from this position.

Moreover, there is nothing in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of the Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team (IFT) that authorizes a federal agent investigating a suspected depredation to shoot at anything, much less an uncollared canid resembling a wolf. The Depredation Response SOP #11 details documentation, preservation, monitoring, and investigation methods– but nothing that encourages the IFT Investigator to kill wildlife at the scene.

Oh, and one more thing: when the necropsy was conducted on wolf 1288, she already had a bullet lodged in her neck from a non-lethal .22 caliber gunshot within the prior week. When asked, the Fish and Wildlife Service said that since no .22 caliber guns were registered to the ranch manager, there wasn’t anything else to investigate.

Case closed.

You can read the reports here:

M1288 April 10 2013 report

M1288 August 14 report

M1288 February 27 report