Latest Report on Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Shows Ongoing Problems

For immediate release December 20, 2024

Media contacts: 

Cyndi Tuell, Western Watersheds Project

Chris Smith, WildEarth Guardians 

Claire Musser, Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project

Bryan Bird, Defenders of Wildlife

Regan Downey, Wolf Conservation Center

Latest Report on Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Shows Ongoing Problems

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Arizona Game and Fish Department paint a rosy picture of wolf recovery despite recovery failures in Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Mexican gray wolf advocates are raising alarm bells about the most recent report on recovery efforts released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today. The 5-year evaluation assessing the progress of the recovery program notes the population of Mexican wolves in the United States is increasing and the Fish and Wildlife Service claims the program has surpassed recovery goals. However, the agency significantly downplayed high mortality rates and lack of releases in Mexico. 

“We are deeply concerned that the Fish and Wildlife Service is ignoring the troubling trend in the Mexican population of lobos and has tried to distract the public’s attention with fairly limited successes for the program in the U.S.,” said Cyndi Tuell, the Arizona and New Mexico director at Western Watersheds Project. “For lobo recovery to be successful, we need at least three viable subpopulations in suitable habitat in the U.S. as well, but we have only one.” 

The report does not include the most recent information about lobo recovery in Mexico, failing to include any information from 2024, while population growth rates in the U.S. appear to be declining. Pup mortality in the U.S. is higher than expected and the mortality rate for pups in Mexico couldn’t be calculated because too few pups had radio collars. 

“This is lipstick on a pig,” said Chris Smith, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians. “Credit is due for the successes of the recovery program. But this report glosses over significant setbacks and real threats to recovery. There is no functional wolf population in Mexico; there may be no wolves in Mexico at all.” 

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service continues to focus its recovery efforts within the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area (MWEPA), ignoring the critical needs of dispersing wolves and failing to acknowledge that suitable habitat exists beyond this artificial boundary,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “Scientific research—and the wolves themselves—make it clear that the current strategy limits recovery rather than facilitates it. True recovery requires a plan that works with the wolves, not against them, ensuring their survival and ecological contributions outside the arbitrary boundary of Interstate 40.”

“Despite encouraging growth in the United States, the truth is, Mexico remains a death trap for the Mexican gray wolf,” said Bryan Bird, Southwest Director for Defenders of Wildlife. “Relying on our southern neighbor – with far less resources and marginal habitat – is a dangerous gamble. The FWS must direct more resources to Mexico and expand the U.S. population area northward. Otherwise, Mexican gray wolf recovery will remain just an illusion.”  

“We celebrate the promising growth of the wild population in the US, especially the survival of fostered pups from captive facilities like ours,” said Regan Downey, director of education at the Wolf Conservation Center. “We’re doing our part to commit to recovery, but what’s Fish and Wildlife Service’s plan to counter the lack of recovery in Mexico? Wolves are paying with their lives.”

Illegal mortality is the highest source of Mexican wolf mortality and efforts to address the problem include hunter education and law enforcement investigations. Of the 61 wolf mortalities suspected to be human caused between 2017 and 2022 in the U.S., just two people have been federally prosecuted and only three people have paid a fine. 

Background:

The lobo, or Mexican gray wolf, is the smallest, most genetically distinct, and one of the rarest subspecies of the gray wolf. These native southwestern wolves were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1976 after being eradicated in the wild. Reintroduction efforts began in 1998, but conservation efforts have suffered without the implementation of recommended recovery actions. 

For years, scientists have recommended to the Service that there be three subpopulations of at least 200 wolves each (with a minimum of 750 total), spread throughout the southwestern United States, including areas like the Grand Canyon Ecoregion and the Southern Rockies (Carroll et al. 2006; Wayne and Hedrick 2011; Carroll et al. 2014; Hendricks et al. 2016). Scientists warn that this metapopulation structure and geographic distribution are imperative to the recovery of Mexican wolves. Unfortunately, we are still far short of this scientific recommendation.

Mexican gray wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Killing a Mexican wolf is a violation of the Federal Endangered Species Act and can result in criminal penalties of up to $50,000, and/or up to one year in jail, plus a potential civil penalty of up to $25,000. Individuals with information they believe may be helpful are urged to call one of the following agencies: USFWS special agents in Pinetop, Arizona, at (346) 254-0515; the WMAT at (928) 338-1023 or (928) 338-4385; AZGFD Operation Game Thief at (800) 352-0700; or NMDGF Operation Game Thief at (800) 432-4263. There is a $105,000 reward fund for information about illegal killings of Mexican gray wolves.

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