More Stock-Killing Wolves
Moved; Plan Head Loses Job

CLIFTON, Ariz. —(AP)— Wildlife officials have moved a pack of Mexican gray wolves believed to be responsible for killing cattle near here.

The Gavilan pack, made up of an adult male, an adult female, a yearling male and five pups, was moved several miles north of the area where the wolves killed a cow last month.

That attack was near the Coalson Peak area in the Apache National Forest about 18 miles northeast of Clifton in far eastern Arizona.

The same pack, released in May, killed cattle that were found dead on Aug. 9 and Aug. 29, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had said.

Arizona Game and Fish Department officials said they are monitoring the wolves carefully and providing supplemental food until the wolves get established in their new area.

Mexican gray wolves were reintroduced in far eastern Arizona nearly two years ago, over the objection of ranchers who said the wolves would kill cattle.

More than 20 wolves are now roaming the wilds of Arizona, many of them pups born to reintroduced wolves.

In a related story, the man who created the Mexican gray wolf reintroduction program for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has lost his job.

David Parsons took an early retirement option that expired Sept. 30, believing he would be rehired under a program that allows retirees to return. But when he reapplied, he was rejected.

Parsons, hired nine years ago to create the reintroduction program, described the rejection last week as a ``kick in the teeth.''

Environmental activists rallied in support of him.

``This is a really bad decision that deserves public scrutiny. I think this is a significant setback to the program,'' said Craig Miller, Southwest representative for the Defenders of Wildlife from Tucson, Ariz.

Parsons said he got the news Monday that he would no longer be the Wolf Recovery Program leader, even though he had been given ``some pretty reasonable verbal assurances'' earlier that he would be rehired.

Fish and Wildlife spokesman Tom Bauer said many employees took the early retirement option because they weren't sure the program would be continued.

``He (Parsons) made that decision; he made it voluntarily,'' Bauer said. ``I think he's a professional; I think he's a good biologist. I was sorry to see him retire.''

Bauer said he didn't know why Parsons wasn't rehired.

``It was a political decision,'' claimed Michael Robinson, with the Center for Biological Diversity, from his office in Pinos Altos, N.M. ``This is a blow to the Mexican wolf recovery program. There are people who have been trying to kill this program by killing wolves and by political machinations.''

Caren Cowan, a spokeswoman for the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association, which has filed a lawsuit challenging the wolf recovery program, said her organization had no problem with Parsons.

U.S. Rep. Joe Skeen, R-N.M., issued a statement Wednesday calling the program a failure.

``Those who insist on the reintroduction of the wolf fail to recognize a common-sense approach toward protecting endangered species,'' he said.