KNAU and Arizona News

Nine wild Mexican gray wolves have died in recent months

KNAU News Talk - Arizona Public Radio | By KNAU STAFF

Published October 23, 2023 at 3:34 PM MST

In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a Mexican gray wolf leaves cover at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro County, N.M. Environmentalists are pushing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to do more to protect Mexican gray wolves after one of the endangered predators was found dead in southwestern New Mexico.

Arizona wildlife officials say nine endangered Mexican gray wolves were reported dead in the third quarter of this year.

According to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, two of the animals are suspected of having been illegally killed.

In all, 21 wild Mexican wolves have died this year compared to a dozen in 2022 and 25 the previous year.

At last count, there were at least 242 of the animals in nearly 60 packs living in the wild, which represented a 23% increase in their Southwestern population.

Mexican wolves are the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America and were nearly eliminated from the wild by the 1970s.

A federal reintroduction program in Arizona and New Mexico began 25 years ago.

In the years since, illegal killings and a lack of genetic diversity within the population has hampered recovery of the species.