Wildlife and People

Wolf-Proof Bus Stop Shelters Go Up In New Mexico Community

by Admin at Wolf Crossing [here]

Finally, a few of the kids from the Reserve School District in New Mexico, will be sheltered from both the weather and from local wildlife while they wait for the bus.

Wolf-Proof Bus Stop Shelter (built from donated funds raised by Louis Oliver and Mimbres Farm Bureau)

In May of 2007 two Catron county Reserve School district school children were followed home from the bus stop by what appeared to be a Mexican wolf although later two sets of wolf tracks were found in the immediate area of the incident.

In a separate incident a 14 year old camper was surrounded by three Mexican wolves while on a hunting trip with his father and family friends. Locations determined the wolves were likely members of the Luna pack. The incident lasted 5-10 minutes and the young man although armed and afraid for his life, chose to wait patiently while the wolves investigated him. Thankfully the incident ended with the wolves moving away, possibly due to the smell and presence of a rifle the young man was carrying. However, these incidents have underscored the need to protect rural children from escalating encounters with Mexican wolves.

This incident among others prompted the Catron County Commission to pass an emergency ordinance directed at protecting children and defenseless persons from mismanagement that is prevalent in the program and growing worse as power struggles become common within the adaptive management oversight committee overseeing the project and the ongoing development of the environmental impact statement that will eventually lead to program expansion.

In early December at the Glenwood elementary school a single wolf was seen on the playground after multiple reports of the animal localizing in the small town of Glenwood. This event prompted the County Sheriff, Shawn Menges to station a deputy at the school to keep an eye on children at recess.

Early March, 2008 had the Dark Canyon pack killing an elk between two homes about a quarter mile apart, both homes have small children present and often playing outside. Unfortunately, the US Fish and Wildlife Service didn’t deem this to be a problem. Meanwhile Dark Canyon has also begun leaving tight bagged cows on the ranch where both homes are located. This means families will suffer a cut in income without reimbursement after loosing calves that remain uncompensated due to small size and lack of documentable evidence.

The agency insistence on leaving wolves in proximity to homes and human habitation is unfortunate these areas are not appropriate habitat and leads to habituation problems.

Children in the region deserve the luxury of outdoor play in their own yards without constant supervision to protect them from problem wolves. Their parents deserve appropriate management of animals that are in close proximity to their homes, bus stops and schoolyards.

Loren Cushman principal of Reserve schools says the shelters do double duty as wolf shelters and weather protection.

“We have one family near Luna who drives their kids to the bus stop then waits for the bus beucase they have seen wolves near the area too often to feel safe about their kids waiting for the bus.” Says Cushman, “I recently spent time in Washington over the rural schools initiative with our representatives. I even talked to Senator Ted Kennedy about the safety issue and the Endangered Species impacts to our small communities and our children. I don’t know if we got anywhere but he was receptive and listened well.”