WildEarth Guardians’ efforts to defend Mexican wolves
Restoring Lobos
The Mexican gray wolf, or lobo, is the most endangered gray wolf in North America and one of the most endangered carnivores in the world. After lobos were nearly wiped out, reintroduction began in 1998 in remote areas of New Mexico and Arizona. Since then, recovery has been slow and turbulent.
In 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided that the only wild population of Mexican gray wolves in the U.S. was not essential to the recovery of Mexican gray wolves as a species. Guardians and our allies sued, and in 2018, a U.S. district judge told the Service to go back to the drawing board to write a new management rule for the lobo.
Now, we’re all at the drawing board—and we need your voice to help ensure that Mexican wolf management aims at true recovery.
To truly recover lobos, a new rule should be based on the best available science and prioritize enhancing the genetic diversity of the wild lobo population, allowing lobos to live throughout their historic range, and ensure that wolves are protected from poaching and only removed from the wild in cases of imminent threat to human health or safety.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s “decision to maintain the population’s nonessential status without consideration of the best available information was arbitrary and capricious.”
— Honorable Jennifer G. Zipps, United States District Judge
Greatest Threat
Humans are the largest obstacle to truly recovering lobos.
Along with illegal trapping and hunting, vehicular mortalities, and official removals from the wild, politically motivated “recovery” plans have put the lobo in a precarious position.
Genetic Diversity
Mexican wolves in the wild are, on average, as related as brothers and sisters.
Though lobos are increasing in number, perhaps the greatest indicator of recovery efforts is the genetic health of the wild population. Unfortunately, a genetic bottleneck threatens lobos: those in the wild are, on average, as genetically related as brothers and sisters.
Protection & Recovery
Find out more about Mexican wolf reintroduction and our efforts to protect and restore the lobo.
The Greater Gila Bioregion
Learn about our work in the Greater Gila Bioregion, home of the Mexican wolf.
A Better Approach to Wolf Recovery
Read the letter conservationists, leading scientists, and animal activists sent the U.S. Department of Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about the new Mexican wolf management rule.
Take Action
Tell the Service that you want to see a lobo management rule that will actually recover Mexican wolves by signing our petition.
How You Can Help
Help protect the incredible, vulnerable wildlife of the West! Be a guardian for the wild by joining the conversation, learning about current issues, and making your voice heard. Together, we're a powerful force for nature.
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Read more >More work remains to ensure lobo survival
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the first Mexican wolves being reintroduced into the wilds of the United States. And the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently released its annual count of lobos in New Mexico and Arizona.
Read more >Jared Polis supports Endangered Special Act rule, but not Colorado bill tied to it
While Gov. Jared Polis backs the state Division of Parks and Wildlife obtaining a rule allowing Colorado to move forward on its plan to reintroduce wolves, a spokesman said today he does not support the process outlined in a bill introduced yesterday.
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Submit Your Comments to Help Mexican Gray Wolves
Your voice is needed to protect Lobos!
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking comments on their Mexican wolf planning rule until January 27, 2022 and you can submit your comments right here. For public participation opportunities, click here to see upcoming virtual information sessions and public hearings.
We’ve provided talking points below to help guide you in writing your comment letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Please use these talking points as a guideline for drafting your individual comments, but what’s most important is that your voice and your reason for wanting lobo recovery come through. So, please speak in your own words, but make sure to emphasize the fact that a new Mexican wolf management rule must:
Rescue Mexican wolves from a genetic bottleneck
Allow lobos to roam throughout their historic range
Designate lobos as “essential”
Limit the removal of wild wolves
Reduce wolf-livestock conflict
Protect lobos from poaching
Aligning a new 10(j) rule with the deeply flawed 2017 recovery plan goes against the court ordered remand of this rule.
Click here to submit your comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before the January 27, 2022 deadline!