For Immediate Release June 3, 2025

MEDIA CONTACTS

Claire Musser, Executive Director, Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 928-202-1325

Leia Barnett, Greater Gila NM Advocate, WildEarth Guardians, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 970-406-2125

Erin Hunt, Managing Director, Lobos of the Southwest,

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 928-421-0187

Conservationists celebrate lobo pup fostering successes but sound the alarm about genetic crisis and lack of wolf family releases

Phoenix, AZ – Advocates are wishing the best for the 17 endangered Mexican gray wolf pups fostered into wild dens this Spring, but they are raising alarms about the ongoing genetic crisis and management policies that hinder the recovery of this rare southwestern native wolf.

“Mexican gray wolves are social, sentient beings and should be treated as active agents in their own recovery,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “The I-40 boundary is an unscientific roadblock that limits their ability to disperse, form new packs, and restore genetic diversity. Recovery requires freedom to roam where habitat allows—not where politics restricts.”

The over-reliance on fostering is resulting in a rapidly closing window for genetic rescue of Mexican wolves as the population grows and it gets harder to increase gene diversity. 

"We celebrate the new lobo pups in the wild, but a genetic crisis still looms. Our wild population of Mexican gray wolves are still as genetically related as siblings", said Leia Barnett, Greater Gila Advocate for WildEarth Guardians. "The solution lies in resuming the release of well-bonded family packs as soon as possible while the population is still small enough to make a meaningful difference."

“We have heard concerns raised by some ranchers in the southwest that Mexican wolves are artificially concentrated in certain areas, perhaps as a result of the overreliance on fostering pups into locations that already have high wolf density” said Erin Hunt, managing director of Lobos of the Southwest. “A natural solution to uneven distribution of the wolf population would be to remove the artificial I-40 boundary and allow natural dispersal in suitable habitat outside of the current recovery area. Releasing well-bonded family groups of wolves in new locations, including the excellent habitat in the Grand Canyon ecoregion, northern New Mexico, and southern Rockies, would allow for a more natural distribution of wolves across the landscape. This would also improve genetics by immediately adding breeding individuals and their pups into the population.” 

The genetic recovery goals as outlined in the 2022 Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan are insufficient to ensure the long-term conservation of Mexican gray wolves. They simply require 22 wolves from the Saving Animals From Extinction (SAFE) captive breeding program to reach breeding age in the wild. But this does not mean that those wolves have actually passed on their genes by raising families of their own. A better measure of improvement to gene diversity would be a requirement that fostered wolves not only survive to breeding age but actually have pups of their own. 

Advocates are celebrating the collaborative foster efforts of the Mexican Wolf SAFE program, nonprofits like LightHawk Conservation, and biologists and technicians working on the ground and urging more action from leadership at state and federal agencies responsible for recovering the Mexican wolf.

Agencies must act now to resume the introduction of well-bonded families of wolves into the wild to address the genetic emergency; better aid recovery of Mexican wolves; and improve resilience, the ability to adapt in the face of a changing environment, and redundancy. Releases of well-bonded wolf families, parents with their pups, have proven to be successful and will immediately boost gene diversity, increase the number of breeding pairs, expand the distribution of lobos, and support the highly social nature of wolves. The intentional restoration of multiple wolf populations is a fail-safe against extinction. 

Background

The Mexican gray wolf is the southernmost subspecies of gray wolf in North America, and the most endangered. Exterminated from the wild in the United States and Mexico, seven unrelated wolves were successfully bred in captivity after the Mexican wolf was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1976. Reintroduction into Arizona and New Mexico began in 1998. The most recent annual census shows at least 286 Mexican gray wolves in the wild in the United States and fewer than 20 in Mexico, where reintroduction began in 2011.   

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For immediate release May 28, 2025 

Media contacts: 

Greta Anderson, Western Watersheds Project (520) 623-1878; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Claire Musser, Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project (928) 202-1325; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club - Grand Canyon Chapter (602) 999-5790; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Nico Lorenzen, Wild Arizona (520) 289-0147; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Kate Scott, Madrean Archipelago Wildlife Center; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Erin Hunt, Lobos of the Southwest (928) 421-0187; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Regan Downey, Wolf Conservation Center (914) 763-2373; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity (801) 300-2414; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Conservation Groups Condemn Removal of Mexican Gray Wolves from SE Arizona 

TUCSON, Ariz. – Conservation groups today condemned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s decision to remove two Mexican gray wolves, known as Llave and Wonder, and their two new puppies from their den site in southeastern Arizona. These wolves were removed following months of inflated depredation reporting, anti-wolf fear mongering, and very few efforts by livestock ranchers to coexist with these native endangered species. 

“When this pack first came across the border in 2022, it was a conservation success story. It showed connectivity between the U.S. and Mexico populations and offered hope of recovery in the historic habitat of the species,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project. “This action represents political capitulation to the organized anti-wolf factions rather than any rational approach to species’ recovery.” 

This wolf family originated in the United States and was translocated to Mexico as part of the bi-national recovery effort. In 2022, the female (“Llave”) and her then-mate crossed back into the United States and took up territory in southwestern New Mexico. After his death, she traveled to Arizona where she was removed, rematched with another translocated wild male (“Wonder”), and re-released in the Peloncillo Mountains of Arizona spring of 2024. They established a den earlier this month and have two puppies, the first known litter of Mexican gray wolves in this part of Arizona in many decades. 

“Removing a bonded pair and their newborn pups during denning season is not just ethically indefensible, it’s biologically reckless,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “Llave and Wonder were symbols of hope, representing the cross-border resilience this species needs to survive. Instead of supporting coexistence and science-based recovery, this decision rewards fear-driven narratives and undermines the wolves’ ability to thrive where they rightfully belong.”

“This action perpetuates ineffective and unethical management of these highly endangered animals, management that caters to the interests of the livestock industry rather than focuses on the mandate of the Endangered Species Act, to promote recovery of our Arizona wolves,” said Sandy Bahr, director of Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon (Arizona) Chapter. “Keeping these bonded wolf families in the wild and contributing is essential to recovery of wolves. Removal of this pack is a big setback to that effort.”

“Wolves are not just a number in a spreadsheet or a code in a ledger. They are vibrant socially intelligent individuals with unique relationships and interactions, not only to their mates, siblings, and pack members, but to the features and habitats across familiar landscapes,” said Nico Lorenzen, wildlife associate for Wild Arizona. “For true recovery and resilience of ecosystems, these highly imperiled wolves must be allowed to move freely, living full life cycles with minimal human disruption. Removing the Mañada del Arroyo pack at denning time and from this key location is shockingly at odds with agencies’ purported conservation aims and the science, ethics and values underpinning such recovery programs.”

“Removing Llave and Wonder and their family is a shameful, blatant abuse of completely disreputable conduct on the part of USFWS,” said Kate Scott, Madrean Archipelago Wildlife Center.

The removal of these four wolves from the wild is in addition to the two recently authorized lethal removals by livestock operators, including one in New Mexico and one in which a pregnant female was “accidentally” killed by Wildlife Services in Arizona.  

“Instead of celebrating connectivity, family, rebirth, and restoration, we find ourselves once again missing Mexican wolves who belong on southwestern landscapes,” said Erin Hunt, managing director of Lobos of the Southwest. “Llave, Wonder, and their family have a right to thrive in their wild, ancestral home. That right has been unjustly taken from them because of a small faction of folks who want to control wild nature and extract whatever financial gains they can. We have a message for them on behalf of Llave, Wonder, and all wild lobos. This land does not belong to the few. It belongs to the many. And most importantly of all, it belongs to the wildlife who were here before us. We must do more to coexist.”

“The removal of Llave, Wonder, and their pups doesn’t just damage their wellbeing – it damages the entire recovery effort because agencies are choosing to prioritize falsehoods and private industry over a native, and endangered, species. As active partners in the Mexican gray wolf recovery program, we demand better coexistence practices,” said Regan Downey, director of education at the Wolf Conservation Center. “How can Mexican gray wolves recover when the very agencies tasked with their protection are working against their best interests?”

“Removing wolves from an area so critical for connecting U.S. and Mexican populations is an assault on their recovery,” said Taylor McKinnon, Southwest director with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Wolf wellbeing wasn’t the beneficiary of this decision, which is an ugly stain on the recovery program.”

Information about the removals was widely shared on social media by area livestock operators, but was not provided to the general public through any official press releases or statements by the agencies. 

These wolves were located on lands that are the traditional territories of the Chiricahua Apache. 

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For immediate release April 28, 2025

Media contacts: 

Chris Smith, WildEarth Guardians (505) 395-6177; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Greta Anderson, Western Watersheds Project (520)623-1878; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Regan Downey, Wolf Conservation Center (914)763-2373; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Brian Nowicki, Center for Biological Diversity (505) 917-5611, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Erin Hunt, Lobos of the Southwest (928) 421-0187; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Claire Musser, Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, (928) 2021325; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Government Kills Another Endangered Mexican Wolf at the Behest of the Livestock Industry

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Just days after admitting that it killed the wrong Mexican wolf in Arizona, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that it also killed the breeding male of the Hail Canyon pack in New Mexico. This second “lethal removal” apparently killed the intended target: a five-year old wild born wolf (AM2764) named Viento who was the breeding male of a family of wolves that includes at least three young wolves and potentially a litter of new puppies this spring.

"The killing of Viento is, quite frankly, infuriating and counter-productive. As partners in the Mexican Wolf SAFE Program, we're trusting the federal government with the well-being of wolves that are released from our care. Viento was the adoptive father of Mexican gray wolf Slides, born at the Wolf Conservation Center in 2023 and placed into the Hail Canyon pack that year through a pup foster," said Regan Downey, the director of education at the Wolf Conservation Center. "How does the killing of his father ensure the well-being of Slides? His own survival just became that much more challenging, and begs the question - who is protecting these animals?"

"This is such a critical time of year for a wolf family - to kill the breeding male of a pack is a huge setback," said Chris Smith, wildlife program director at WildEarth Guardians. "Livestock owners grazing on public lands should be coexisting with native wildlife, not clamoring for blood."

“Between the recent killing of a pregnant female wolf and now the killing of a breeding male just before his pups are born, it’s clear that federal wildlife agencies have completely lost their way and wolves are paying the ultimate price,” said Brian Nowicki, Southwest deputy director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Our public lands should be places where endangered animals can recover and thrive, not be killed left and right.” 

“Last week, on Earth Day, instead of celebrating the amazing comeback of these imperiled wolves, the federal government was out killing them,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project. “These removals are done to support the public lands livestock grazing industry, where a handful of ranchers get a sweetheart deal and heavy subsidies to degrade our national forests for private profit – including the destruction of keystone species who are vital to a healthy ecosystem.” 

Data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife indicates that livestock losses to Mexican wolves are trending downward even as the population of wolves slowly grows. Despite empirical evidence to the contrary, however, the Catron County Board of Commissioners has recently claimed that livestock losses are increasing.

“Viento was named by a student who was inspired by the possibility of once again hearing the howl of the Mexican wolf rising above the wind in their ancestral home in the southwest,” said Erin Hunt, managing director of Lobos of the Southwest. “This student was excited by wolves running like the wind through our forests, their song rising as they call to each other. Viento’s family will never hear him call out to them again. What could we possibly say to his pack to justify this? What can we possibly say to the young people who are so invested in the return of wolves to southwestern landscapes? There are no words.”

"Viento was not a number or a nuisance — he was a sentient, social being whose life mattered,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “Killing him at the start of the denning season shatters his family and undermines the very future we claim to be protecting. True recovery demands more than counting wolves; it requires honoring their lives and fostering a landscape where they, and we, can co-thrive."

The Hail Canyon pack occurs on Gila National Forest lands near Reserve, New Mexico. 

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For immediate release: April 21, 2025

Media contacts: 

Greta Anderson, Western Watersheds Project (520)623-1878; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Regan Downey, Wolf Conservation Center (914)763-2373; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club - Grand Canyon (Arizona) Chapter, (602) 253-8633, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Nico Lorenzen, Wild Arizona (520) 289-0147, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Chris Smith, WildEarth Guardians, (505) 395-6177; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Erin Hunt, Lobos of the Southwest (928) 421-0187, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Claire Musser, Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project (928) 202-1325, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Government Accidentally Kills Mother Mexican Wolf in Arizona 

PHOENIX, Ariz. –The government “mistakenly” killed the collared and presumed pregnant breeding female of the Bear Canyon Mexican gray wolf pack in Arizona last week. She was lethally killed pursuant to a removal order issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for an uncollared wolf from the pack, due to ongoing livestock depredations on public land. The wolf, AF 1823, was named Asiza by schoolchildren and was seven years old.   

“It’s outrageous that our government is authorizing wolves to be killed for preying on livestock on public lands, full stop,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project. “But the fact that they killed a collared mother wolf ‘by accident’ is completely unacceptable. Wildlife professionals should be trained to know what they are targeting, especially when it comes to a highly imperiled species. We demand a full investigation and criminal charges for negligence if appropriate.” 

The April 4, 2025 removal order authorized Wildlife Services to kill an uncollared wolf from the Bear Canyon Pack and specifically noted that it was not their intent to “remove the breeding female … who will likely whelp a new litter of pups soon.” However, on April 14, 2025, exactly that event occurred. 

“At a time in which federal agencies’ purview and capacity to protect and conserve endangered wildlife is threatened, we in the conservation community stand behind the agencies’ mandate to protect wildlife.” said Nico Lorenzen, wildlife associate of Wild Arizona. “That said, there is a standard that these agencies must maintain in their practice, as with any profession. The mistaken killing of Asiza, wolf AF 1823, is brazen harm to a breeding female of critical importance to Mexican gray wolf recovery and should be further investigated.”

“The killing of Asiza is extremely upsetting, both for her family and for lobo supporters across the country. Her death endangers the Bear Canyon pack’s survival; research shows that killing a breeding female can destabilize the pack and increase the likelihood of future conflicts,” said Regan Downey, Wolf Conservation Center director of education.

“We are outraged by this irresponsible and unnecessary killing of this highly endangered wolf and especially outraged and disappointed that it was the government itself that took this action and did so related to possible livestock depredation,” said Sandy Bahr, director for Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon (Arizona) Chapter. “All Mexican wolves are precious due to their small numbers, but a breeding female is especially precious and important. This is no way to treat endangered wildlife.” 

“Wildlife Services has a history littered with cruelty and mistakes; and usually it is wildlife that suffers. In fact, this is not the first time Wildlife Services has accidentally killed a Mexican wolf,” said Chris Smith, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians. “It’s clear that adequate care was not taken. Asiza never should have been killed - it’s an outrage.”

“The killing of this breeding female is tragic news for the recovery of Mexican wolves,” said Andrea Zaccardi, carnivore conservation legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “While the agencies claim that killing this female was a mistake, they’re staying silent on the details as to how such an egregious error was made and how they’ll ensure mistakes like this won’t be repeated. We need to know why this killing occurred and how they’ll make sure it never happens again.”

“We recognize that this is an incredibly challenging time for federal workers, and thus for the wildlife and wild places they defend, but there must be a thorough investigation into this tragic mistake,” said Erin Hunt, managing director of Lobos of the Southwest. “The student who chose Asiza’s name did so because wolves are keystones of their habitat and guardians of our world. We owe it to the wolves and to current and future generations to ensure that these critical guardians roam safely and freely in the wild places where they belong. Asiza’s family deserves justice, and we all deserve the assurance that something like this will never happen again.”

“The killing of Asiza is more than a mistake; it’s a failure of ethical responsibility. Wolves are not the problem. Reactive, fear-driven policies are,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “If we want true recovery, we must move beyond coexistence and invest in relationships where both wolves and people can co-thrive.”

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For immediate release: March 31, 2025

Media contacts: 

Greta Anderson, Western Watersheds Project (520) 623-1878; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Chris Smith, WildEarth Guardians (505) 395-6177, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Sally Paez, New Mexico Wild (505) 350-0664, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Nico Lorenzen, Wild Arizona (520) 289-0147, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Claire Musser, Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project (928) 202-1325 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Regan Downey, Wolf Conservation Center (914) 763-2373, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Jacqueline Covey, Defenders of Wildlife (630) 427-7164, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity (801) 300-2414, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Wandering Wolf “Ella” Found Deceased in New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Mexican gray wolf who just last week was located north of Interstate 40 near Mount Taylor in New Mexico was found dead on Sunday, March 30, 2025. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has indicated that the cause of Ella’s death is under investigation.  She was named “Ella” by schoolchildren and her intrepid spirit was the subject of news coverage over the weekend. 

“We’re deeply saddened that her journey has come to an end, because her roaming was teaching us about where Mexican gray wolves choose to be,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project. “The agencies insist on keeping wolves south of Interstate 40 in Arizona and New Mexico based on the ‘historic range’ of the species, but wolves like Ella live in the present and they are showing us their species’ future is in an expanded northern range.” 

“It’s always devastating when we lose a member of this still small and imperiled population," said Chris Smith, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians. "But when we find that a young, intrepid wolf like Ella is taken, it's especially painful. Eventually, lobos will re-colonize their historic range. Until then, we will fight for their survival."

“The rugged slopes of Mount Taylor and surrounding areas host healthy herds of elk and would provide exceptional wolf habitat if humans were not intent on excluding them,” said Sally Paez, staff attorney for New Mexico Wild. In 2022, the State of New Mexico added 54,000 acres to the Marquez Wildlife Management Area, which created the largest wildlife management area in the state and vastly expanded the network of unfragmented public lands and wildlife corridors near Mount Taylor. “It is no surprise that a young wolf like Ella was drawn toward this wild landscape,” said Paez, “and we are deeply saddened by her loss.”

Mount Taylor is not only excellent lobo habitat; the area is also sacred land to Navajo, Acoma, Laguna, Hopi, Zuni, and other Indigenous peoples. The area holds about 1,000 cultural sites and has a rich cultural heritage and ceremonial importance to many people. 

“Ella’s death is a profound loss—not just for her species, but for all of us who saw in her journey a glimpse of what recovery could look like,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “She was young, instinct-driven, and full of possibility. By venturing north, she was reclaiming space that wolves once called home. Her story deserves more than mourning—it demands action to ensure other wolves have the freedom to thrive where she could not.”

"Ella's life was tragically short but deeply impactful, and we should strive to be like her as we work to create a better world for Mexican gray wolves," said Regan Downey, director of education at the Wolf Conservation Center. "Let's be bold and unapologetic in our quest to let lobos roam beyond the arbitrary boundary of I-40. Let's be like Ella."

“Mexican wolves like Ella have shown time and again that the wildlands north of Interstate 40 are desirable wolf habitat,” said Taylor McKinnon, Southwest director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Her death is a tragedy and its cause and circumstances need to be investigated and shared with the public.”

“This female wolf’s motivation to disperse north is a key instinct that we celebrated just last week as it is indication that this species is poised to recover its historic range. We are, sadly, now learning of her death and investigating the cause,” said Craig Miller, Defenders of Wildlife senior Arizona representative. “Mexican gray wolves must be allowed to roam freely to new territories and find mates to strengthen their genetics for future healthy populations.” 

“With Mexican grey wolves facing a panorama of threats including habitat degradation, genetic diversity loss, and threats to legislation that protects these imperiled wolves it is more important than ever to investigate these incidents and curb illegal mortality.” said Nico Lorenzen, conservation and wildlife associate with Wild Arizona.

There are 162 Mexican gray wolves known to be living in the wild in New Mexico, according to the latest annual census of the lobo population released by the agencies responsible for managing the species. 

Illegal mortality is the leading cause of death for Mexican gray wolves. Conservationists and agencies have offered a combined reward of more than $105,000 for information leading to the conviction of anyone who violates the Endangered Species Act and unlawfully kills a Mexican wolf. Individuals with information they believe may be helpful are urged to call one of the following agencies: USFWS special agents in Pinetop, Arizona, at (346) 254-0515 or NMDGF Operation Game Thief at (800) 432-4263. Killing a Mexican wolf is a violation of state law and the Federal Endangered Species Act and can result in criminal penalties of up to $50,000, and/or not more than one year in jail, and/or a civil penalty of up to $25,000.

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