Reproduced with permission from U.S. Fish and Wildlife website

What is the current status of the Mexican gray wolf?

There are only about 200 Mexican wolves in the world. Most are part of a captive breeding program in 40 zoos and wildlife sanctuaries located in the United States and Mexico to prevent extinction of the subspecies. In March 1998, the first 11 Mexican wolves from captive stock were reintroduced into the wild in the Apache National Forest in southeastern Arizona under a program to re-establish the subspecies to a portion of its historic range. Two additional wolves were released later that year. Twenty-one wolves have been released in 1999. Of the 34 wolves released: five have been shot; one disappeared; one was hit by a vehicle; five were returned to captivity; and at least 22 are free-ranging. The status of released Mexican wolves can change unexpectedly. For up-to-date information, visit the Mexican wolf web page,

How did the Mexican wolf become so endangered?

Intensive predator removal efforts from the late-1800s to the mid-1900s extirpated the Mexican wolf from the wild in the United States portion of its range. The Mexican gray wolf was listed as "endangered" on the Federal List of Threatened and Endangered Species in 1976. Its presence in the wild in Mexico has not been confirmed since 1980.

What is the reintroduction plan?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, USDA Wildlife Services and USDA Forest Service, began releasing captive-reared Mexican wolves into the designated "primary recovery zone" in the Apache National Forest in eastern Arizona in 1998. Released wolves and their progeny have been designated a nonessential experimental population under a special provision of the Endangered Species Act. These wolves are allowed to disperse into and colonize the entire Apache National Forest and adjacent Gila National Forest in western New Mexico ‹ an area of about 7,000 square miles. This area is referred to as the "Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area."

The reintroduction objective is to re-establish a wild population of at least 100 Mexican wolves. If the objective of 100 wolves cannot be achieved on the Blue Range area, additional wolves may be released on the "White Sands Wolf Recovery Area." The White Sands area includes the White Sands Missile Range and additional lands to the west. Releases will occur through 2002 and the Service predicts that a wild population of 100 wolves will be achieved by 2008.