Mexican Gray Wolf

Native to the mountainous woodlands of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, the Mexican gray wolf (commonly known as ‘lobo’) is one of the most endangered mammals in North America. By the mid-1980s, hunting, trapping, and poisoning caused the downfall and drastic decrease of this subspecies in the wild. In 1998 the wolves were reintroduced into the wild as part of a federal reintroduction programs under the Endangered Species Act.

An estimated 2 million gray wolves, including thousands of Mexican gray wolves, originally inhabited North America. Today in the U.S. there is a single wild population of Mexican gray wolves comprising of only 131 individuals, an increase from the 114 counted towards the end of 2017.