Defenders' Experts
Southwest Wolves Background and Recovery
Mexican wolves (Canis lupis baileyi) are the most endangered wolf in the world, with a total wild population of just 50 animals. Mexican wolves were saved from total extinction by a captive breeding and reintroduction program.
Little is know about the Mexican wolf, or lobo, because they were exterminated from the US and Mexico before they could be studied. They appear to have ranged from Mexico D.F. and Michoacan north through Durango, Chihuahua and Sonora into Arizona and New Mexico, and north to Utah, Colorado and east to Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, overlapping with other gray wolf subspecies.
Mexican wolves are smaller than northern grey wolves (but bigger than coyotes) and they have a mottled coat, mixing gray, black, tan and rust. They live in packs of an alpha pair and pups from that year and possibly the year before, and have varying home ranges (a few square miles up to hundreds of square miles).
Based on historical records, Mexican wolves primarily fed on deer. In contrast, the reintroduced wolves feed primarily on elk but do occasionally kill livestock, which along with private property concerns and general anti-government sentiment makes the reintroduction program controversial.
Range of the Mexican Wolf – Now and in the Future
| Blue Range Recovery Area | Mogollon Recovery Site | Grand Canyon Recovery Site | Patagonia/ Atascosa Recovery Site | White Sands Recovery Site | |
| Size of Area |
6,745 sq. mi. |
4,826 sq. mi. | 4,826 sq. mi.+ | 3,861 sq. mi. | 3,964 sq. mi. |
| Primary Prey | White-tailed deer, mule deer, elk | Elk, deer | Elk, deer | Deer | Mule deer, pronghorn, oryx (introduced) |
| Number of Wolves | 100 (recovery goal); ~50 (current population) | 45-71(biological estimate of what area could support) | 115-187 (biological estimate of what area could support) | Not fully evaluated | 20 (biological estimate) |
Restoring the Mexican Wolf
El Lobo, the Mexican gray wolf, has returned to some of its former haunts in the American Southwest. The Mexican wolf reintroduction project began in 1998 with the first release of 11 captive-bred wolves in the Blue Range Mexican Wolf Recovery Area in Arizona and New Mexico.
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Current Status of Reintroduced Wolves
The final environmental impact statement for the reintroduction of Mexican wolves predicted that by the 6th year of the program, there would be 102 wild wolves, and 18 breeding pairs. Instead, by early 2010 (year 12), we had only 42 wild wolves total, and only 2 breeding pairs.
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