Cheyenne's Howl

Printed in Mountain Messenger on Friday June 6, 1997

Mexican Wolf

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I have some good news that I would like to share with you today. I have just read in my latest Defenders magazine that five pairs of my cousins, the Mexican Wolf or canis lupus baileyi, are going to soon make history. Also known as El Lobo, these cousins were listed as endangered in 1976.  Today it is one of the most endangered land mammals in the world. In its former range, which included Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and south to Mexico City, there has been no evidence of its living in the wild since 1980 and El Lobo was once the areas top predator.

El Lobo is the smallest subspecies of Canis lupus or North American gray wolf. The reintroduction of these cousins started with an agreement between the Mexican government and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the survival of these animals. The USFWS was allowed to capture all of the Mexican wolves they could find in Mexico between 1977 and 1980. Four males and one pregnant female were captured and brought to the U.S. and a captive breeding program was established. There are currently about 150 wolves being raised for this project both in Mexico and the U.S.

The reintroduction is going to take place in Arizona and New Mexico. Even though public opinion polls in both states overwhelmingly support the return of El Lobo to its historic range, neither Arizona Governor Fife Symington (R) or New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson (R), are eager to see the wolves returned to their historic native lands. Barring any last minute court challenges, six of the wolves plus their pups could be freed in the Apache National Forest in eastern Arizona next Spring. With the successful restoration of the wolf in Yellowstone National Park, in central Idaho, and in North Carolina, the opponents of wolf reintroduction have little ammunition left to prevent El Lobo from returning to its natural home.

The recovery area encompasses both the Apache and the adjoining Gila National Forest in western New Mexico for a total of 4.6 million acres. The goal of this project is to release up to 15 wolf family groups, a male, female, and pups, which would then produce a wild population of one hundred animals by the year 2005. An additional five family groups could be released in the White Sands Missile Range located in central New Mexico.

According to Defenders, the reintroduced wolves are to be considered a "nonessential, experimental population". This is a special designation that gives biologists more discretion than they would otherwise have under the Endangered Species Act, to deal with conflicts between man and wolf. Wolves that move onto private land will be relocated and wolves caught killing livestock on private land may be shot by the landowner. According to federal estimates, there is probably less than one tenth of one percent of all livestock that would be killed by wolves. As in other areas of reintroduction, wolves prey on elk and deer. I will keep you informed on the progress of this project.

Cheyenne