Top predators hold a key to life itself. Can people and predators coexist? Can we afford not to? These are some of the questions posed in the 2009 film, “Lords of Nature: Life in a Land of Great Predators,” the first of many films presented monthly by the UNM Chapter of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance.

Phil Carter, the organization’s president, said the group is the only student conservation organization on campus. He said it started in the fall of 2005 with the goal of saving the Mexican Gray Wolf from the list of extinct animals.

“At the moment, there are only 52 wolves currently living in the wild,” Carter said. “What we do is educate and cultivate responsibility for the Mexican Gray Wolf through lectures, letters, campaigns and, recently, the films.”

Carter said the Mexican Gray Wolves once thrived in stable populations in New Mexico.
“The wolves were hunted out in the early 1900s,” he said. “By 1982, both the federal and state government started the introductory program of wolves back into the United States.”

Finally, the government captured the last few wolves to breed in captivity, he said.
It was not until 1998 that the wolves were released back into the wild, however, and the population is still low, Carter said.

UNM freshman Olivia Gallegos said she is concerned about the Mexican Gray Wolf and is aware of the struggle to increase the species’ population.

“There are so many factors that go into (preserving the Mexican Gray Wolf),” Gallegos said. “People are encroaching on their territory. I remember the other day I was running down my arroyo when I saw a wolf in the middle of the city and I was kind of freaked out. It was like the clash-of-the-cultures thing, how disgusted people are and how wolves are just trying to survive.”

Gallegos said she is aware of the possible threat wolves pose on the city, but that people still need to keep them in their natural environment.

“Of course I see it as a problem, wolves, I mean the wolves have to eat, but at the same time people are just so gluttonous about going into (wolf territory), building new homes, expanding on the west side, expanding into the mountains and even on the crest,” she said.

Later in the year, the UNM Wilderness Alliance will be presenting two more films: “Sense of Wonder” on Nov. 19 and “Split Estate” on Dec. 14.

“Sense of Wonder” is about Rachel Carson’s life from her book, Silent Spring, in which she raises awareness of the environment where birds of prey are affected by DDT.
“Split Estate” focuses on the drilling of natural gas in northwestern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado and how it is affecting both the environment and private property owners.

“I believe the films and various events are a great way to teach or educate (people) about the wolves and their place in the ecosystem,” Carter said. “The wolves are also within the history and culture of New Mexico.”