To protect livestock, people declared war on Mexican wolves. Private citizens and government agents shot, trapped, and poisoned wolves. And it was almost a total victory: by the 1980s, only a handful of Mexican wolves survived.
Organized efforts to eradicate wolves began in the 1900s. By the mid-1980s, Mexican wolves were probably gone from the wild. But between 1976 and 1980, what were believed to be the last five Mexican wolves living in the wild were captured to start a breeding program.
(Photos above: left: Two Mexican wolves, J. Palmquist/Wolf Haven International, at right: photo of a wolf hunter, courtesy of U.S. National Archives.)
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and Mexico’s Secretaria de Medio Ambiente, Recursos Naturales y Pesca, to reintroduce captive-born wolves into the wild.Mexican wolves are being released into the Blue Mountains on the New Mexico-Arizona border. The area was chosen for its large size, abundant elk and deer populations, and remote location.
One example is Ladder Ranch, New Mexico: Mexican wolf breeding and reintroduction facility
Wolves born at zoos and other breeding facilities are being
used to rebuild the wild population.
Wild Mexican wolves are once again roaming the wilderness of the American southwest.
Reintroductions will continue until the population is self-sustaining—probably around 100 animals. In January 2007, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimated the population to be 59 wolves.
Mexican
wolf at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, above.
Want to know more? To follow the Mexican wolf recovery effort, visit:
U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service Mexican Wolf Recovery Program.
