Population of endangered Mexican wolves keeps growing
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. >> Once on the verge of extinction, the rarest subspecies of the gray wolf in North America has seen its population nearly double over the last five years, with more gains being reported in 2020, U.S. wildlife managers said Friday.
The results of the latest annual survey show there are at least 186 Mexican gray wolves in the wild in New Mexico and Arizona. That marks the fifth straight year that the endangered species has increased its numbers, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Reintroduction of Mexican wolves to the American Southwest began more than two decades ago. The program has pitted environmentalists, rural residents and wildlife managers against one another, prompting many legal challenges over management of the effort. The latest pending case involves a rewrite of the agency’s management plan for the animals.
Some of details of the survey done over the winter were included in court filings made this week.
Environmentalists said they were hopeful about the numbers but that the wolves were still in a precarious position.
Bryan Bird, director of
the Southwest program for Defenders of Wildlife, said ensuring that wolves and people can coexist will continue to be an essential part of long-term success for the species’ recovery. He said he was hopeful the federal government would make wolf recovery more of a priority,
“So, while it is encouraging to see an increase in wolves, limited genetic diversity and high rates of illegal killing continue to slow recovery efforts,” he said. “There is still work to be done to establish a self-sustaining Mexican gray wolf population.”
Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity said more stringent protections are needed for the wolves and more effective releases from captivity into the wild.
Meanwhile, ranchers and rural residents who live in the mountainous regions of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico where the wolves roam say
livestock deaths due to predation continue to escalate as the population grows.
Unlike wolf reintroductions in Yellowstone and the northern United States, wildlife managers in the Southwest are faced with a climate that has encouraged a year-round calving season, meaning conflicts between livestock and wolves are constant rather than just a few months out of the year.
Ranchers contend the wolves are becoming more brazen despite efforts to scare them away using range riders on horseback or flagging along fence lines. The wolf recovery team also uses feeding caches to draw wolves away from cattle.
According to the latest survey, there were 114 wolves in New Mexico and 72 in Arizona, marking a 14% increase from the previous year. In 2019, the wolf recovery team documented a population increase of nearly 25%.