Current Ag Issues

Mexican Gray Wolf

Mexican Gray Wolf Facts

How to tell a wolf from a coyote...…..

  • Wolves are adept at determining prey vulnerability and the human victims of predatory attacks tend to be mainly on children.


  • Recent proposals place wolf release sites where elk and deer populations are very low, and permitted cattle, including calves, horses and dogs are present.


  •  Wolves may attack a dog even when people are present and a wolf excited by the presence of a dog may be more likely to act aggressively toward people.


  • Aggressive behaviors by wolves are often associated with habitation and food conditioning.  The wolves planned for release have been raised by humans in facilities where they are habituated and food conditioned.

 

It is sometimes hard to tell the difference between wolves and coyotes, especially from a distance.

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Mexican Wolf Population Grows for Eighth Consecutive Year

March 5, 2024 Press Release

The wild population of Mexican wolves saw another year of growth in 2023, according to the results of the annual survey. The 2023 population census revealed a minimum of 257 Mexican wolves distributed across Arizona and New Mexico. This increase marks the eighth consecutive year of population growth, the longest continuous streak since recovery efforts began. 


The 2023 population minimum count represents a six percent increase from the minimum of 242 wolves counted in 2022. Survey results show the population is distributed with a minimum of 144 wolves in New Mexico and 113 in Arizona. 

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Service Provides Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to Assess Management Changes for Mexican Wolves

May 12, 2022:  Albuquerque, NM

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today the availability of a

final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) assessing the environmental impacts of revisions to the management regulations for the Mexican wolf in Arizona and New Mexico. The revised rule and Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement have been developed in response to a court-ordered remand of the 2015 10(j) rule by the District Court of Arizona.


 The FSEIS analyzes the environmental effects of three alternatives to revising the existing nonessential experimental designation of the Mexican wolf in the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area (MWEPA) . . .

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Related Topics

2022 SEIS Final Report

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Mexican Wolf Recovery Program

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  • Mexican Wolf Reintroduction & Management

    The Arizona Game and Fish Department has been actively involved in reintroducing Mexican wolves to portions of their historical range since before the first release of wolves in 1998. In the 1980s, the recovery effort focused mainly on involving the public in discussions about reintroducing the Mexican wolf. Click to Read More.

  • Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program Quarterly Reports

    Each quarter, a narrative summary of Mexican Wolf Blue Range Reintroduction Project activities is developed by the Interagency Field Team and distributed to specific target audiences. The update includes information on wolf activities, management activities, communication and coordination, outreach activities, personnel and law enforcement news.  Click to Read More


    To recieve quarterly updates regularly via email, click here sign up . This update is a public document and information in it can be used for any purpose.


  • Mexican Gray Wolf Current Locations

    The Collared Mexican Wolf Public Location Map displays generalized wolf locations and is updated every 2 weeks.

    Web Map by FWS_SRV_MexicanWolf

    Click to Read More.


  • Conserving the Mexican Wolf

    In 1976, the Mexican wolf was listed as endangered and a binational captive breeding program was initiated soon after to save this unique gray wolf from extinction. In 1998, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service released the first captive Mexican wolves into the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area in Arizona and New Mexico.  Click to Read More.

 USFWS Finalizes Changes to Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Rule in Arizona and New Mexico 
Final Environmental Impact Statement Outlines Steps to Increase Range and Genetic Diversity, Mitigate Impacts to Ranchers and Native Ungulates

(January 2015) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized the revised rule under which Mexican wolves are managed in Arizona and New Mexico. The revised rule expands the area where wolves are allowed to occupy and increases the Service’s ability to further the conservation of one of the nation’s rarest mammals while being responsive to the needs of local communities. The final rule will be formally published in the Federal Register later this week.

Additionally, the Service has issued a final rule listing the Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) as an endangered subspecies under the Endangered Species Act. The Mexican wolf had previously been protected under the listing for the gray wolf (Canis lupus). Under this listing revision, the experimental population will be associated with the Mexican wolf subspecies’ listing rather than with the gray wolf species.

“This revision of the experimental population rule provides Mexican wolves the space they need to establish a larger and more genetically diverse population – a population that can meaningfully contribute to the subspecies’ recovery,” said Benjamin Tuggle, the Service’s Southwest Regional Director.  “The revision also provides us with the necessary management tools to address negative interactions.  The expanded area for the Mexican wolf experimental population is accompanied by clearer and more flexible rules to support the interests of local stakeholders. Successfully establishing a larger population of Mexican wolves in a wider working landscape requires striking an appropriate balance between enabling wolf population growth and minimizing impacts on livestock operators, local communities and wild ungulates. This new rule achieves that balance.”

The revised regulations for the experimental population of the Mexican 
wolf release maps
wolf release maps
wolf release maps

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Photo By: John Doe
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Map 5

Photo By: John Doe
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Map 1
A map of the existing zones under which the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project operates (as per the 1998 10j Rule). Initial Releases from captivity can only occur in the Primary Recovery Zones while wolves can disperse naturally into the Secondary Zone (shown as Recovery areas with no hatching) or through translocations of wolves with wild experience. Wolves establishing territories outside the Recovery Areas and must be returned.  
Map 2  
This map shows the proposed changes, by dropping the Primary and Secondary zones, the White Sands Recovery Area, and the small portion of the Experimental Population Area in Texas. Wolves would then be allowed to be released anywhere in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area. Wolves would also be allowed to disperse into and remain in the Experimental Population Area. 
Map 3
Preferred Alternative Release Sites:
  • Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area (green) - Allow initial releases and translocations throughout.
  • Expanded Blue Range Wolf Reintroduction Area (green and adjacent gray which would include the BRWRA; Sitgreaves National Forest, and portions of the Tonto National Forests in AZ and the Cibola National Forest in NM (gray areas) - Allow initial releases and translocations throughout.
  • Current Mexican Wolf Experimental Area (salmon) - Allow dispersal and management translocations throughout
  • Fort Apache Indian Reservation (hatched area) - Tribes have the option of allowing for initial release and translocations to be authorized or to request removal in tribal areas.
  • Expanded Mexican Wolf Experimental Area (salmon and red) - Natural dispersal and management translocations throughout.
Map 4  
This map shows additional considerations being explored through the NEPA process for the new 10j Rule. The Experimental Population Area would be expanded to the Mexican border, which would allow for additional management of wolves that potentially could enter the US from reintroductions taking place in Mexico. Without this extension, any wolves that enter the area between the border and Interstate 10 would be not be part of the experimental population and would be considered fully endangered and management options would be limited. The proposal is also asking for comments on the possibility of adding the Magdalena District of the Cibola National Forest, the Lakeside and Black Mesa Districts of the Sitgreaves National Forest, and the Payson, Pleasant Valley, and Tonto Basin Districts of the Tonto National Forest to the Blue Range Recovery Area.  
Map 5 
Proposed USFWS Mexican Gray Wolf Sites on Tonto National Forest.
Map 1
A map of the existing zones under which the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project operates (as per the 1998 10j Rule). Initial Releases from captivity can only occur in the Primary Recovery Zones while wolves can disperse naturally into the Secondary Zone (shown as Recovery areas with no hatching) or through translocations of wolves with wild experience. Wolves establishing territories outside the Recovery Areas and must be returned.  
Map 2  
This map shows the proposed changes, by dropping the Primary and Secondary zones, the White Sands Recovery Area, and the small portion of the Experimental Population Area in Texas. Wolves would then be allowed to be released anywhere in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area. Wolves would also be allowed to disperse into and remain in the Experimental Population Area. 

Map 3
Preferred Alternative Release Sites:
  • Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area (green) - Allow initial releases and translocations throughout. 
  • Expanded Blue Range Wolf Reintroduction Area (green and adjacent gray which would include the BRWRA; Sitgreaves National Forest, and portions of the Tonto National Forests in AZ and the Cibola National Forest in NM (gray areas) - Allow initial releases and translocations throughout.
  • Current Mexican Wolf Experimental Area (salmon) - Allow dispersal and management translocations throughout
  • Fort Apache Indian Reservation (hatched area) - Tribes have the option of allowing for initial release and translocations to be authorized or to request removal in tribal areas.
  • Expanded Mexican Wolf Experimental Area (salmon and red) - Natural dispersal and management translocations throughout
Map 4  
This map shows additional considerations being explored through the NEPA process for the new 10j Rule. The Experimental Population Area would be expanded to the Mexican border, which would allow for additional management of wolves that potentially could enter the US from reintroductions taking place in Mexico. Without this extension, any wolves that enter the area between the border and Interstate 10 would be not be part of the experimental population and would be considered fully endangered and management options would be limited. The proposal is also asking for comments on the possibility of adding the Magdalena District of the Cibola National Forest, the Lakeside and Black Mesa Districts of the Sitgreaves National Forest, and the Payson, Pleasant Valley, and Tonto Basin Districts of the Tonto National Forest to the Blue Range Recovery Area.  
Map 5 
Proposed USFWS Mexican Gray Wolf Sites on Tonto National Forest.
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