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Show Page THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, Wednesday, November 28A 1, 1S78 Famiiv Life Edition Mexican Wolves Becoming Part Of Dying Breed - The five TUCSON. Ariz(UPi) gray and tan pups romped around the yard like young dogs They whined for attention Had there been no signs to tell visitors they were wolves, one would have assumed they were just big. cros- sbred dogs But thev were Mexican wolves, part of a new exhibit at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum located west of Tucson and part of a dying breed Their identification sign read Endangered species And the future of the pups, and the species rested on a meeting between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Mexican Wildlife officials to be held in Texas in October. The pups, one female and four males, were born in May to a wolf which had been captured in February for the museum. But the mother refused to care for the pups and wouldn't let them nurse, which presented a disease hazard. "They were very, very sick with diarrhea for a long time," said Dagmar Sommer, assistant curator of birds and mammals. "They couldn't take a commercial dog milk replacement or goat's milk. It was really a miracle we raised those kids at all. "But, of all things, the only female died when she was about four days old." The wolves, known to scientists as Canis lupus baileyi, was a subspecies of the gray wolf. They were considered to Valley Family Monument Built After Model The monument that is currently being prepared to honor Utah Valley families is being fashioned after a small statue of a Utah Valley family of several generations ago. The models for the smaller state were the grandparents of Avard Fairbanks, the Utah Valley born sculptor who is currently sculpting the monument, according to Dr. Virginia Cutler of the Citizens Committee for the Monument. The smaller statue inspired the movement to obtain a family monument in Utah County. ' ' from Their range used to exti-nsouthern Colorado to cental Mexico Now it is limited to a relatively small remote mountain area between Duran-go- , Mexico, and the Chihuahua state border, according to I'S Fish and Wildlife endangered species specialist Curtis J Carley 37. who works in Albequer-que- , said Roy McBride. a field worker for his department, estimated there were fewer than 50 Mexican wolves left in the world and only six pairs of these were breeding pairs Carley said the wolt has largely become a predator of livestock because other wildlife which they would normally prey on has been killed off. N M W? ,e li .Mrs Sommer sa! the project to save the wolves really began about three years ago when the museum's only Mexican wolf died. They contacted other zoos and found the San Diego Zoo was the only other institution with one. So they began negotiations with Mexico to allow an animal to be trapped. n when we "We got found we couldn't find a real pure Mexican wolf in the country," Mrs. Sommer said. "And then we found out how few were available in the wild." panic-stricke- M 'i " "r f '. " 1 "' i - i rf'n DAGMAR SOMMER, and animals Vs. v assistant curator of birds at the Arizona-Sonor- a Desert Carley said McBride captured two wolves in February for the Museum a male and a female although probably not a breeding pair. As it turned out, the female was already mrimjmmttmmimmirmiiM.'mtAk mi f,rmm km ma Z&f. Museum here, plays with two of the five Mexican wolves on exhibit at the museum. The wolves, part of a dying breed, are being used in a breeding project. It is estimated that there are fewer than world. (UPI Telephoto) 50 Mexican wolves in the In Mexico, Carley said, the project has the potential of becoming highly political because the ranchers might be afraid a return of the wolf would mean severe losses in their stock. He said education was the key to the whole program. "We don't want them to think we're going to raise a thousand wolves and let them loose on their cattle." Carley said one plan would place the wolves in areas where there were few people, such as national park areas. He also said there was a possibility the wolves could be released in the United States as well. "I really don't know what will happen to those kids," Mrs. Sommer said. "Maybe the only thing to come out of this will be that people can see them in a captive state." SfT ff FAMILY GIFT! fP IV j Cf A) SEE YOUR Martensen Real Estate offers another first HOME ON -E- L. For weekends Investigate Heatheridge! - Why, we've even included I I IS THE TIME i AUDI 400 S. 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