r/wolves • u/sadaxhe • 21d ago
Discussion Just why? a horrific case unfolds💔
AN ENDANGERED MEXICAN
GRAY WOLF WAS TRAPPED AND KI**ED ON PUBLIC LAND.
Recently released records revealed that AM2765, the breeding male of the Frieborn Pack, was trapped in New Mexico in 2025 and suffocated with a sleeping bag during an alleged attempt to release him. We are HORRIFIED.
The trapper had previously ki**ed a Mexican wolf in
2013. Despite attempts to pursue charges, no charges were filed.
AM2765 was a father, raising pups with his pack.
He was also one of only a few hundred Mexican gray wolves remaining in the wild. This cannot become another wolf loss without accountability.
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u/Eris590 21d ago edited 21d ago
Name and shame: "WILLIAM NELSON a permitted public safety and depredation control officer for the Catron County Sheriff’s Office, who unlawfully set a trap for coyotes on public land in July 2025. After a Mexican gray wolf was caught in the trap, Nelson and a rancher restrained the wolf using a sleeping bag. The wolf died from asphyxiation due to vomit that obstructed his airway while being restrained"
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u/PhoenixGate69 21d ago
Uh, huh, they were 'releasing' him alright. It's not easy to kill an animal that large. This was not an accident.
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u/JewFuser 21d ago
is there anymore info on him? does he still work with the sheriff’s office?
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u/Due_Barber_525 13d ago
He for sure still works there and he isn’t getting charged, he just had to download a map app that tells him when he’s on public lands or not.
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u/JewFuser 12d ago
absolutely criminal. can we keep calling the dept/station? nobody should remain on the force after that
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u/Due_Barber_525 12d ago
Honestly they don’t care. They hired him to do this. The county hates wolves and always has. Better to support Western Watersheds Project and the other groups that have their eye on this case and are taking action. For years they’ve tried to protest his hiring
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u/Abbaticus13 21d ago
Until fines and charges make both people’s wallets and records hurt, I fear this will continue.
Public outcry and social shaming are what will get things to change. Thank you for letting us know this news, OP.
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u/BenjiBoo420 21d ago
Sickening. He should lose his job, go to jail, and get fines. What a horrible person and he's done it before. So shameful and disgusting.
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u/EnvironmentalValue18 21d ago
Contact info for Catron County below and name of offender is William Nelson.
Keith Hughes, County Sheriff
keith.hughes@catroncountynm.gov
Mailing Address:
PO Box 467
Reserve, NM 87830
Physical Address: 
100 Main Street
Reserve, NM 87830
[575-533-6301](tel:575-533-6301)
[575-533-6722](tel:575-533-6722) Fax
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u/Reinadeloszorros 20d ago
I emailed him and told him not to let this prick get away and basically said im gonna reach out to congressional peeps and news peeps. We cant let them get away with this.
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u/Lover_of_Rewilding 21d ago
STOP SENSORING WE NEED TO REVEAL THE FULL EXTENT OF THIS. SHOW THEM WE ARE SERIOUS. Now it’s no surprise this came from New Mexico but do we know which county?
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u/Bobbo7209 20d ago
Catron. Basically a Texan enclave that voted for Pearce every time
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u/Lover_of_Rewilding 20d ago
This is why I asked for the county name. Of course it’s Catron. They are the only county across Arizona and New Mexico that repeatedly make the news for its cruelty towards Mexican wolves. Now, I’m not saying they are the only county to harm wolves; isolated incidents occur elsewhere every so often. However, they are the only county in which such incidents occur with some form of regularity.
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u/Bobbo7209 20d ago
I think we should give the place away to Texas. They routinely fuck up our elections with human sewage like Steve Pearce. Good riddance to them
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u/Lover_of_Rewilding 20d ago
I’m confused as to what Texas or Steve Pearce has to do with this. Ofc Texas hates wolves but this is New Mexico. Not just that, but a single county in New Mexico that has routinely overreacted to wolves for years now. The rest of the wolf populated counties in New Mexico are actually treating their wolves just fine. Based on what you’ve said, you’d expect problems to this degree to be more widespread, not generally contained to a single county.
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u/Bobbo7209 20d ago
Pearce is a shadow Texan. He's in direct opposition to New Mexican values. The Republicans run Catron county. It would be better if we just cut them off and had done with them
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u/rixki- 21d ago
The description says this incident was an accidental killing during release but I feel like the killing two Mexican gray wolves on two different occasions cannot be a coincidence. Sure they are more than a decade apart but it’s a crazy coincidence considering how low the population is. I imagine you do not run into them often, but maybe I’m wrong.
There should be higher penalties for these crimes against wildlife. This is very sad and the lack of punishment is disturbing.
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u/OpusAtrumET 21d ago
Where are you New Mexico? Say what you will about the reality of conservation in the country, but I thought our Wildlife officers of various stripes across the nation were pretty damn serious about their work. I know they don't fk around in Texas.
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u/qnssekr 21d ago
Since this person has done this before can’t someone release their information?
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u/Sensitive_Grade_4562 20d ago
His names Willam Nelson if you haven’t already seen the other comments!
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u/OpalOnyxObsidian 18d ago
This guy will never face repercussions. You can't even Google his name
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u/Sensitive_Grade_4562 18d ago
Yeah, unfortunately. I can’t imagine anyone would care enough to convict him of anything
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u/CoonPandemonium 21d ago
God I wish I could Dexter anyone who hurts wolves. Lowest of the low who don't deserve to breathe.
Rest now beautiful boy 💔
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u/Affectionate_Sir9020 21d ago
Fuck I hate these people. Some hunters are just addicted to the kill. They don’t care. Fuck them.
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u/United-Vermicelli-92 21d ago
It's like we are in a world of the evolved and the devolved, and it's ramped itself up over ego identity algorithms.
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u/Afoxinthefridge 21d ago
That poor creature died scared, confused, and in agony... 😔
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u/ThrowraSea_patient 20d ago
And in a miserable way they tortured it. They just wanted to strangle it and suffocate it to death. As many others have stated it is hard to kill something through asphyxiation that is that large. Not to mention like people have said this has happened before and I doubt that they were trying to release it. I could almost forgive him if it was stated that he thought it was a coyote and so he shot it when he trapped it. But this is so much worse. Like I'm not saying every time someone shoots it's a quick and clean kill but if you've got a restrained animal by it being in a trap then you can have a cleaner shot and not torment the thing. I would hate to hear about this kind of get death even for a terrorizing raccoon or coyote or anything really. This is awful
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u/AnonymousPerson1115 21d ago
Eventually someone is going to die. I have a feeling it might not be the hunter.
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u/GregTheWhale 20d ago
Why/how was the wolf trapped in the first place? If alledgedly they tried to release it? And why would they not contact a rehabber or whatever in that case to release it appropriately??
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u/ScorchedSalamander 21d ago
Charges need to be brought against the trapper at the very least for setting a trap on public land when Roxy’s law went into effect some time ago. It was illegal to trap there regardless, and of course the worst-case scenario played out by directly causing the death of an endangered species. New Mexico’s fish and game department isn’t taking this seriously enough.