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Our Wolves

Bob

Biography

Mexican Gray Wolf #732 was born in 2002 on April 13 at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge near Albuquerque New Mexico.  The Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility serves as a pre-release site for Mexican gray wolves slated to go into the wild.  As a pup, he received the name Bob due to a shortened, “bob” tail.  Bob was first released to the wild with his parents and littermates in June 2003 as a member of the Red Rock Pack.  By August, he had left his family to travel alone and was accused of depredation and going outside the wolf recovery area. He was returned to captivity at Sevilleta to await the arrival of female #797, a wild Mexican gray wolf whose mate had died.  Pregnant #797 (alpha female of the Saddle Pack) was captured and taken to Sevilleta in order to give birth and meet her new mate.  

      #797 gave birth to a litter of five pups, and Bob was successfully introduced to her and her pups.  Bob and his new family would take over the name of Saddle Pack when released into the Gila Wilderness of New Mexico in August of 2004.  Bob and #797 had additional litters in the wild in 2005 and 2006, and with additional mouths to feed, Bob returned to killing livestock.  Due to the three-strike rule, a permanent removal order was issued for the pack before #797 could give birth in 2007.  Unfortunately, wily Bob resisted efforts to trap him, and lethal measures to remove him from the wild were approved.  Sharp-shooters were called in.  On two separate occasions, the sharp-shooters were certain they hit Bob, but returned to the site the next morning only to find him gone.  On one of those instances, his radio collar was shot off, but he miraculously survived!  Mexican wolf field team was finally able to trap him in May 2007 and take him to Sevilleta to be with his family.  

        Bob and #797 produced one more litter of pups in captivity (even though #797 was placed on birth control!!) in January of 2009.  Bob and his mate will never return to the wild due to the taking of livestock.  Their sons, however, may return to the wild one day, and their single feisty surviving daughter from the 2009 litter is also eligible for release.  The pack needed to be removed from the pre-release site due to space considerations, but needed to go somewhere quiet and wild.  A large enclosure at Endangered Wolf became available, and in May of 2009, Bob, #797, their two-year old sons and new daughter were brought to the Endangered Wolf Center to live.