Mexican wolf (lobo)

What is the Mexican wolf and why is it imperiled?

The Mexican wolf or lobo (Canis lupus baileyi) is a subspecies of the gray wolf (Canis lupus). Gray wolves were once found widely in North America and Eurasia. They have a smaller distribution today than they had historically, largely because people viewed wolves as nuisance predators and baited, trapped, and hunted them to extinction in some areas. In the US, wolves were even hunted and poisoned in protected areas, like Yellowstone National Park, which was first established in 1872. The last of the original Yellowstone wolves may have been killed in the 1920s.

Today, the gray wolf is missing from most of its former range in the 48 contiguous states of the United States, although it has been reintroduced or naturally reestablished itself in the northern Rocky Mountains, the Pacific Northwest, the Upper Midwest, and the Southwest. Despite the low number of wolves in the lower 48 states, wolf hunting is currently allowed in some areas.

The Mexican wolf was once found in the southwestern United States, including Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas, as well as in large parts of Mexico. As settlers moved to the southwestern US and began to raise livestock there, they saw the wolves as a problem because wolves sometimes kill livestock. Therefore, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, ranchers and later the US Bureau of Biological Survey (now the US Fish and Wildlife Service) tried to eliminate all of the Mexican wolves, first killing them off in the US, then later in Mexico. Very few Mexican wolves remained by the 1970s, either in the wild or in captivity. 

What is being done to conserve the Mexican wolf?

The US Endangered Species act was passed in 1973, and the gray wolf was listed as endangered in 1976. Once gray wolves were protected, plans were made to try to revive the Mexican wolf population. Between 1977 and 1980, some of the few Mexican wolves left in the wild were captured to establish a captive breeding program.

In the late 1990s, the first captive-bred Mexican wolves were released in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area, a large area spanning parts of Arizona and New Mexico, as well as a small part of western Texas. More wolves have since been released in the US and Mexico, and the total wild Mexican wolf population now numbers more than 200 wolves.

What are the barriers to Mexican wolf recovery?

Mexican wolves face challenges, including lack of genetic diversity because all of the wolves released into the wild have descended from a small number of ancestors, a phenomenon known as the founder effect. Scientists are trying to increase the genetic diversity of Mexican wolves by cross fostering wolf pups. In cross fostering, pups born in captivity are taken by wildlife managers and placed with wild wolf packs to be raised, which promotes genetic diversity in the wild population.

Additionally, many Mexican wolves do not die natural deaths in the wild. From 1998 to 2019, the top cause of death for the wolves in the US was "illegal mortality" (more than 50% of wolves). More than 10% were also killed by being struck by vehicles.

How are institutions in Albuquerque helping the Mexican wolf?

Both the Museum of Southwestern Biology and the Albuquerque BioPark have played roles in understanding the biology of Mexican wolves and contributing to their recovery. The Museum of Southwestern Biology has by far the largest number of Mexican wolf specimens in the United States and works with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to collect samples and record detailed information about Mexican wolves today. Albuquerque BioPark has been involved in housing and rearing live wolves. In 2021, a group of Mexican wolves, including a male named Ryder, a female named Kawi, and their seven pups, was transferred from Albuquerque BioPark to a facility in Mexico, with the goal of eventually releasing them into the wild in Mexico.