A historic day and a victory for wolf conservation efforts, on March 4, 1997, Interior Secretary Babbitt signed the final record of decision approving the reintroduction of the Mexican Wolf to Arizona and New Mexico.  Over one year later three family groups of 11 Mexican gray wolves were released into the Apache National Forest in Arizona. 

  Mexican wolf restoration has been in process since 1982 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) finalized the Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan, jointly signed by the United States and Mexico.  Last December, the FWS issued its Final Environmental Impact Statement regarding the Mexican wolf restoration project.  Now, the decisive step has taken place with Secretary Babbitt signing the record of decision.

  All Mexican Wolves to be released under the proposed alternatives of the Final Environmental Impact Statement would come from the certified U.S. captive population.The primary recovery objective is to reestablish 100 wild wolves distributed over more than 5,000 square miles by the year 2005 consistent with the 1982 Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan.A federal regulation will designate the population to be released as "experimental and non~essential" to the continued existence of the subspecies.This "Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Rule" will delineate the precise geographic boundaries and prescribe the protective measures and management authority that apply. 

Defenders of Wildlife, a nonprofit, D.C.~based conservation group, established a $100,000 Wolf Compensation Trust and will pay ranchers for any verified livestock losses due to reintroduced wolves.For the past several decades, the only place to see a live Mexican wolf has been in a zoo.Most people in the Southwest agree that it is not right and not natural.  

Public support throughout the Southwest for wolf reintroduction is overwhelming, just as it was for Yellowstone wolf restoration.  There are concerns from ranchers about potential livestock losses, but most residents realize the important ecological benefits that will come from having the Mexican wolf back in its rightful home.(Source:  Defender's Press Release dated 3/4/97) 
 
More about Mexican Wolves  (Canis lupus baileyi) 

One of the rarest land mammals in the world, the Mexican Wolf is the southern most and one of the smallest sub~species of the North American Gray Wolf. Mexican Wolves formerly ranged throughout central and southeastern Arizona, central and southern New Mexico, all of west Texas and central New Mexico. Adults weigh from 50 to 90 pounds, averaging 4 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 6 inches in total length and reach 26 to 32 inches in height at its shoulder.  Its pelt color varies.The "Lobo" ~ its popular name ~ is genetically distinct from other wolves and no confirmed population exists outside captivity. 

International experts rate recovery of the Mexican Wolf subspecies as the highest priority of all Gray Wolf recovery programs.  Studies of DNA have shown they are not contaminated with coyotes/other strains as some feared, and are in fact the most genetically distinct North American wolf breed ~ strongly supporting their classification as a distinct subspecies. 
The objectives of the Species Survival Plan are to establish a captive population of about 240 animals including at least 17 breeding pairs.  The Final Environmental Impact Statement calls for a wild population of at least 100 animals in the primary recovery zone, the Blue Mountain Range on the Arizona, New Mexico Border.  The current captive population of only 170 animals exists at a total of 39 facilities across the United States and Mexico.  There are three lineages of Mexican Wolf in the captive population diversifying the gene pool.  These lineages include:  The McBride, Ghost Ranch and the Aragon lines. 

A conditioning facility for Mexican Wolves has been built at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge near Soccoro, New Mexico.  The purpose of the facility is to condition wolves for living in the wild in the Southwest. The Sevilleta site consists of five pens ranging in size from one~quarter to three quarters of an acre.  The pens surround a central sixth pen about one and one~half acres in size. The facility is an extremely remote and excluded area.Wolves will be chosen to stay at the facility based on variables such as their genetic make~up and tolerance of human contact. First the wolves would stay approximately 6 months or longer at the Sevilleta Facility. Those in that facility then chosen for release were placed in pre release enclosures at the actual reintroduction area. 

This is known as a "soft release" which means wolves are held for a period of time to allow them to adjust to their surrounding so they do not immediately leave the reintroduction zone upon their release back into the wild.   

The History of the Mexican Wolf 

In 1976, the Mexican Wolf was listed as anendangered subspecies under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973. Between 1976 and 1980, field surveys were conducted in Mexico and five wolves were removed from the wild to start a captive breeding program.In 1982, the federal wildlife agencies in the United States and Mexico approved and signed the Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan.This plan currently under revision outlines the actions necessary to recover the Mexican wolf in the wild.Key in this plan is the reestablishment of wild populations from captive~raised wolves. 

In 1990, the IUCN/SSC/CBSG held a Population Viability Assessment (PVA) workshop at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center.  The PVA was repeated and revised in 1995 as part of the recovery plan revision.  From the original five wolves captured by Roy McBride between 1977 and 1980, the captive population grew to 107 wolves by 1995. This population was managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service until 1985 and then by a consortium of holders of Mexican wolves called the Mexican Wolf Captive Management Committee.  Since 1993 the population in the United States has been managed through the AZA's Species Survival Plan (SSP).  The captive population in Mexico is managed by the federal wildlife agency, the Instituto Nacional de Ecologia in the Secretaria. del Medio Ambiente Recursos Naturales y Pesca. 

Two other lineages of captive wolves have recently been added to the Mexican wolf studbook.The "Ghost Ranch" lineage is derived from two wolves taken from the wild in 1959 and 1961.The "Aragon" lineage is derived from wolves originating at the Chapultepec Zoo in the mid~1970s.The wild origin of the Aragon lineage's ancestors is not known, but it is thought that they are unrelated to either the Ghost Ranch lineage or the McBride lineage.The Ghost Ranch lineage was not previously included in the studbook because of unsubstantiated claims that the founding sire was a wolf/dog hybrid.The Aragon lineage was not previously included in the studbook because the wild origin of the founders was not known and determination of wolf subspecies by morphological means alone was not generally accepted. 

Genetic investigations of all three lineages were initiated to resolve these and other genetic questions. Phil Hedrick of Arizona State University and the Genetics Committee of the Mexican Wolf Recovery Team reviewed this research and concluded that all three lineages were pure Canis lupus baileyi. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officially accepted this opinion in July of 1995 as did the Mexican wolf SSP at its annual meeting at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.At that time the Ghost Ranch lineage was composed of 25 wolves and the Aragon lineage of eight wolves.These two lineages were combined with the McBride lineage in the 1995 International Studbook. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department have been involved in evaluating sites in the United States for potential reestablishment of Mexican wolves.  These evaluations have resulted in proposals to reestablish the Mexican wolf in the Blue Range Area of east~central Arizona and the White Sands Missile Range Area of south~central New Mexico. Final ruling on these proposals is expected in 1996. 

The U.S. fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department evaluated sites in the United States for potential reestablishment of Mexican wolves. These evaluations resulted in proposals to reestablish the Mexican wolf in the blue Range Area of East~central Arizona and the White Sands Missile Range Area of south~central New Mexico.  The final decision was to release three family groups in the Apache Forest in Arizona at Campbell Blue, Hawks Nest and Turkey Creek.

  The mission of the Mexican Wolf SSP is to support the reestablishment of the Mexican wolf in the wild through captive breeding, public education and research. 

Special Concerns 

The major problems facing the SSP are holding space limitations and the limited number of founders.  The SSP is aggressively promoting participation by North American zoos. Finding additional founders seems unlikely. Prior to the release this past March, 1998, a Mexican wolf has not been confirmed in the wild since 1980. Field surveys in Mexico and the United States over the past two and one~half years have not been able to confirm any of the many unsubstantiated reports of wild wolves. 

(Source: 1996 Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan Annual Report)