For the last decade, children in the rural New Mexico town of Reserve wait for the school bus in wooden cages designed to protect them from gray wolves, Fox News reported
The idea seems sound -- even quaint in a dangerous sort of way -- if it wasn't for the underlying message associated with the small, protective cabins.
Wildlife defenders believe the structures exist as a ploy by ranchers to demonize the gray wolf, an endangered species which isn't known to attack humans but is known to prey on live stock. Now that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is considering placing the wolves under Endangered Species Act protection, the use of anti-wolf cabins is under increased scrutiny, Fox reported. Ranch owners strongly oppose the potential policy change. They believe any animal that attacks their assets should be hunted, according to Fox.
"There's been absolutely zero, nada, zilch attacks on humans by wolves in the Southwest, so I think these cages are a reaction to a non-problem," said Eva Sargent, director of Southwest programs for Defenders of Wildlife. "For some people, it's a political ploy to bring attention to other things. A lot of the fear stirred up by these kid cages, at the base of it, is an anti-government fear and the wolves are standing in for that."
Wolves have attacked humans just three times in North America over the last four decades, according to Sargent's research, and none of those have involved the gray wolf.
School officials in Reserve originally had the structures built, according to Fox.
"They're designed so children can step up in them and sit down and wait for the bus," Catron County Sheriff Shawn Menges told FoxNews.com. "What happens out here in these rural areas is that most of the time, the parents are going to sit and wait with the children [for the bus] in their vehicle, but that's not always true."
Caren Cowan, executive director of the New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association, believes the Mexican gray wolves are more dangerous because many were bred in captivity and then released in the wild - which means they aren't as naturally afraid of humans.
"In Catron County, the wolves were following some kids home from schools, some of them could no longer walk to the bus stop like they used to," Cowan told FoxNews.com. "They are a constant problem and we spend a great deal of time and effort on this issue."
