For immediate release: July 8, 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.  

Erin Hunt, Lobos of the Southwest, 928-421-0187, 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.

Mary Katherine Ray, Rio Grande Sierra Club, 575-537-1095, 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.

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

Michael Robinson, Center for Biological Diversity, (575) 313-7017, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Letter Demands Release of Asha, Her Family

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Thirty-six conservation groups representing millions of  members and supporters from across the United States today sent a formal letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that requested the immediate release of Mexican gray wolf Asha, her mate, and their five puppies. The wolf family was slated to be released on the Ladder Ranch in June but has been subjected to unexplained delay. 

The Caldera Pack consists of a female, named Asha in an online youth wolf-naming contest, her mate Arcadia, and their five pups Kachina, Aspen, Sage, Kai and Aala. Asha was born in the wild and became an icon in 2023 after she twice crossed the Fish and Wildlife Service’s arbitrary northern boundary for Mexican wolf movements marked by Interstate 40.  She has been captured once before and released. She was captured again after her second infraction, and the Service paired her with the captive-born Arcadia, publicly stating they would be released after pups were born. 

The release was scheduled for June 23 but postponed supposedly due to logistics.  However, the livestock industry has been lobbying to halt wolf releases. The conservation groups are worried that the release is being stalled out for political reasons.  

“Delaying the release risks missing the critical window when Asha could teach her pups how to hunt native elk calves and give the pack the opportunity to localize on these private lands,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project. “The planned release was well-timed for optimum success, but better late than never. The government should move as quickly as possible to get these wolves on the ground this week.”

“Asha and her young family represent incredible promise for Mexican wolf recovery and Asha’s story has captured the nation - she deserves to be free,” said Chris Smith, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians. “The fact that she has been held captive for so long is wrong. She needs to be released now.”

“Asha’s release is much more than a promise made — it’s a critical piece of Mexican gray wolf restoration grounded in decades of science, responsibility and real community investment,” said Craig Miller, Defenders of Wildlife’s senior Southwest representative. “Her new family represents years of genetic planning, public engagement and the hard-won lessons of coexistence. Delaying or denying Asha’s and their release risks undermining the very recovery efforts the public, conservationists, and agencies have worked so hard to achieve.”

“That Asha, who wandered so far and so freely, should languish in captivity indefinitely, possibly for the rest of her life, is unbearable,” said Mary Katherine Ray, Wildlife Chair for the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club. “We are calling on the US Fish and Wildlife Service to keep its promise to free her and her family for the future of wolf genetic diversity, for the intent of the law, and for the decency that Asha deserves.”

“Asha’s story reminds us what’s at stake: not just a wolf, but a wild future. She dared to cross an invisible line on a map, and now she and her pups are paying the price," said Claire Musser, executive director, Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. "This delay isn’t just a missed opportunity, it’s a betrayal of public trust and of Asha’s own wild instincts. If we are to restore wolves in a way that honors their agency and intelligence, we must act now and let this family live freely, as they were born to do.”

“Every wolf deserves to be wild,” said Regan Downey, director of education and advocacy at the Wolf Conservation Center. “The release of the Caldera Pack would signify a commitment to creating a world where Mexican gray wolves truly thrive. Let Asha continue to be a leader for her endangered species.”

Asha’s pups would materially improve the genetic health of the wild population, which becomes harder to diversify the larger the population grows on the landscape. That’s because the larger population anticipated in the future would require proportionately more releases to gain the same percentage of genes underrepresented in the wild which are available among captive wolves.  

“The livelihood and wellbeing of the Caldera Pack should be at the forefront of the need to release these wolves onto the landscape,” said Nico Lorenzen, Wild Arizona. “These wolves also represent a great opportunity to increase the genetic diversity, and therefore the long term health, of the Mexican gray wolf population. The longer it takes to introduce underrepresented genes from the captive population into the wild, the more difficult, costly and risky it will become, especially with an increasing wolf population. Releasing Asha, Arcadia and their pups promptly would indicate that the managing agencies take their commitment to saving these wolves, restoring our landscapes and using the best scientific principles for the public good seriously.”

“With the Caldera Pack release now apparently on hold and certainly delayed, we are troubled that wolf recovery may be being stymied for political reasons,” said Erin Hunt, managing director of Lobos of the Southwest. “Implementation of the Endangered Species Act is required by the statute to be based exclusively on the best science, not political influence.”

“It’s hard for me to think of any scientific reason why Asha and her genetically vital family haven’t been released yet, and I fear that’s because indefinitely delaying their release was a political decision,” said Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Asha and her family deserve their freedom, their fellow Mexican wolves in the wild deserve their lifesaving genes and the American people deserve agencies that follow the science and the law, not the livestock industry’s lobbyists.”

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For Immediate Release, July 1, 2025

Contacts: 

Michael Robinson, Center for Biological Diversity, (575) 313-7017, 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.
Erin Hunt, Lobos of the Southwest, (928) 421-0187, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Leia Barnett, WildEarth Guardians, (970) 406-2125, 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.
Michelle Lute, Wildlife for All, (505) 552-2501, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Bill Would Remove Federal Protections From Endangered Mexican Gray Wolves

TUCSON, Ariz.— U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) introduced legislation this week to remove the Mexican gray wolf from the endangered species list, which would effectively end recovery efforts for this unique, highly imperiled subspecies.

Removing Endangered Species Act protections from Mexican wolves would stop releases of wolves from captivity to diversify the gene pool of wild wolves, end federal investigations into possible wolf predation on livestock, reduce federal funding that supports compensation for livestock losses, shut down monitoring of the wolves and remove federal prohibitions on killing them.

“Bypassing the Endangered Species Act to strip all protections from beleaguered Mexican gray wolves and leave them vulnerable to Arizona’s shoot-on-sight laws would cause a massacre,” said Michael Robinson, senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Southwest’s ecology would suffer, and we’d be left with a sadder, drabber landscape if Gosar and the livestock industry’s cruel vision for wolf extermination becomes law.”

Less than two and a half years after passage of the Endangered Species Act, the Mexican gray wolf was federally protected as endangered in April 1976. Seven of the last remaining Mexican wolves were captured and a breeding program kept the species from extinction. Wolves were reintroduced to Arizona and New Mexico in 1998, and in Mexico in 2011. Since then, their U.S. numbers have increased to 286 animals, but they remain imperiled due to dangerously low genetic diversity.

“Representative Gosar is recklessly out of touch with the science that supports carnivore recovery, and is simply pandering to the anti-wolf livestock industry’s desire to dominate public lands and control nature,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project. “Decisions under the Endangered Species Act are supposed to be based on science, not the whims of Congress.”

The Endangered Species Act requires animals and plants to be protected if they are in danger of extinction due to habitat destruction, killings, inadequate regulations or other natural or human threats. Gosar’s bill is an attempt to circumvent the legal, science-based management of Mexican wolves. Species can be removed from the list if they are no longer in danger of extinction. Mexican wolves are nowhere close to meeting the delisting threshold.

“The Wolf Conservation Center is one of many partners in the Saving Animals From Extinction (SAFE) Program for Mexican wolves, a captive breeding and release effort focused on recovering wild, genetically robust populations,” said Regan Downey, director of education and advocacy at the Wolf Conservation Center. “We’ve worked tirelessly for decades to support thriving populations of Mexican wolves and refuse to be undermined by politicians who prioritize private industry over endangered wildlife.”

There would be no legal or regulatory limits on wolf killings in Arizona if the Mexican wolf were to be removed from the federal endangered list. Wolf killing in New Mexico would likely also increase. With a relatively small population size, a constricted range, a limited gene pool and an absence of protective rules in Arizona, any congressional delisting of the Mexican gray wolf would likely result in unrecoverable losses.

“We cannot allow disinformation and myth to guide decision making when it comes to protecting our irreplaceable wildlife and wild places,” said Erin Hunt, managing director of Lobos of the Southwest. “The Endangered Species Act is a proven success. For the past three decades, 84% of people have consistently supported the Act and the protection it provides to species in peril, with no evidence of lower support among people living in rural areas. Mexican wolves would be extinct if it weren’t for Endangered Species Act protection. Despite the false claims of a few, there are many people living in wolf country who want to see lobos restored and thriving on the landscapes where they belong.”

Livestock owners have benefited from Endangered Species Act protection for Mexican wolves, too. They are reimbursed with federal funds when there has been conflict between livestock and wolves.

“Without strong protections from the Endangered Species Act, Mexican gray wolves will once again be at risk from being eliminated from Arizona. That is just not a risk we should be taking with these highly endangered wolves,” said Sandy Bahr, director of Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon chapter. “Rep. Gosar is once again demonstrating both his ignorance and his arrogance, as well as his total lack of concern for the creatures we share this Earth with, by pushing forward with this legislation.”

“Lobos have been an integral and irreplaceable part of the landscapes of the Southwest for millennia. They add a demonstrated ecological benefit, hold important cultural significance, and have captured the hearts and minds of New Mexicans and many others across the nation and the world,” said Leia Barnett, Greater Gila New Mexico advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “We cannot afford to entertain these ill-informed, industry-driven attacks on our bedrock environmental laws that protect these iconic species and their habitat.”

“I have seen that coexistence with wolves is possible when communities have access to practical, nonlethal tools and support. But this bill would strip away the protections that make that kind of progress achievable,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “It ignores science, disregards the fragile status of Mexican gray wolves, and risks unraveling decades of careful recovery work.”

“The Mexican gray wolf has lived on the landscape of the American Southwest and Mexico for millions of years, long before either nation-state came into existence. Lobos had robust populations and a preeminent role in maintaining ecosystems keeping them safe from disease and unmitigated herbivory,” said Nico Lorenzen of Wild Arizona. “Rep. Gosar paints the current state of wolf conservation in misleading nationalist broad strokes that ignore robust science and how much the majority of Americans value our wild heritage. His unwillingness to understand the complex facts on the ground in favor of particular interest groups is a shortsighted attempt to harm a species that is still very much in need of recovery.”

“This bill is a cynical ploy to appease special interests at the expense of the democratic process, public trust and the survival of one of North America’s most endangered mammals,” said Michelle Lute, Ph.D. in wolf conservation and executive director of Wildlife for All. “Stripping protections from Mexican gray wolves would empower local anti-wolf factions to increase their extermination efforts and make a mockery of the Endangered Species Act. Wildlife belong to all of us — not just the politicians and industries trying to sell our public lands and wildlife to the highest bidder. We need more democracy in wildlife management, not less.”

Since its passage in 1973, the Endangered Species Act has successfully prevented the extinction of more than 99% of the animals and plants placed on the endangered and threatened species lists.

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For Immediate Release June 25, 2025

Contacts:

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.

Erin Hunt, Lobos of the Southwest, 928-421-0187, 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. 

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

Michael Robinson, Center for Biological Diversity, 575-313-7017, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Mary Katherine Ray, Sierra Club - Rio Grande Chapter, 575-537-1095, 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. 

STUDENTS NAME MEXICAN GRAY WOLF PUPS SLATED FOR RELEASE

Entire Family of Wandering Wolf “Asha” To Be Freed Together in New Mexico

Albuquerque, NM – Mexican gray wolf puppies born in captivity at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge received names this week from student submissions via an online contest. The five puppies– Kachina, Aspen, Sage, Kai, and Aala– and their parents Asha and Arcadia are slated to be released in New Mexico. 

Asha made headlines in 2023 when she twice ventured north of Interstate 40, the official boundary beyond which Mexican wolves are banned. After her second capture near the Valles Caldera National Preserve, she was paired in captivity with a male named Arcadia, and officials pledged to release them after pups were born. Conservationists are calling the new family the Caldera Pack and hope that their release will add genetic diversity to the genetically imperiled wild population.

The students who named these pups explained the meanings behind their proposals. Kachina (Kweo Kachina) is the name of the Hopi wolf spirit. Aspen highlights that Mexican gray wolves and Aspen trees are both unique and at risk. Sage means wise to show wolves' intelligence and is also calming to show wolves aren't vicious. Kai means willow tree in the Diné language. Aala means “she who hunts and heals” because wolves do hunt but also heal their surroundings.

The names were drawn from ideas submitted by K-12 students from New Mexico, Arizona and elsewhere.

“Each Mexican gray wolf is a unique sentient being with hopes and dreams of their own,” said Erin Hunt, managing director of Lobos of the Southwest. “Students share their passion for wildlife conservation and their own hopes for the future of wild lobos by submitting name ideas that help people make a personal connection with these rare southwestern native wolves. Thank you to all the students who have helped honor Asha and Arcadia’s pups with names of their own.”

“We are excited that this wolf family will be back in the wild, where it belongs, and that the students are learning about and connecting with the lobos via these naming opportunities,” said Sandy Bahr, director of Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. “We hope this pack thrives and endures and that Asha is now able to live out her days wild and free.”

“We are thrilled to see new pups join the Caldera pack and await their release back to the wild. We humbly hope that these new wolves can live on the landscape without the disruptions their parents have experienced.” said Nico Lorenzen, conservation and wildlife associate at Wild Arizona. “Thank you to the members of our community that proposed and voted on these names, let them reflect the will of the community to revitalize our wild spaces. The onus is now on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to assure that this genetically critical pack is released and is safe from harm.”

“We’re sending congratulatory howls to Asha and Arcadia on the birth of their five pups – what an exciting development for their family and their endangered species! Wolves are essential members of healthy ecosystems and the Caldera Pack will positively impact not just their home, but the millions of Americans who find joy in knowing wolves roam wild landscapes,” said Regan Downey, director of education and advocacy at the Wolf Conservation Center.

“The names Kachina, Aspen, Sage, Kai, and Aala reflect more than creativity, they carry meaning, memory, and hope. These pups aren’t just numbers in a recovery plan, they are individuals, each with a future that matters,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “Asha’s story is one of resilience and longing, and her family reminds us that wolves are not just symbols of the wild, but active participants in their own recovery, rewilding the landscape because they choose to. Let’s honor them by making space to live, roam, and thrive.”

“Asha amazed and enchanted the world with her travels across historic wolf country never preying on livestock or alarming humans,” said Mary Katherine Ray, Wildlife Chair for the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club. “At last Asha has the family she was looking for. We are thrilled with the prospect that all of them will be free and that wild nature will be a little more complete with her, her mate, and their pups in it.”

“These pups can infuse badly needed and under-represented genes into the wild Mexican wolf population once they’re released with their parents, grow up and find mates,” said Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Congratulations to their mom, Asha, and dad, Arcadia. I’m hoping there are many tail-wagging trails ahead for pups Kachina, Aspen, Sage, Kai and Aala.” 

“Asha has become a mascot for freedom and wildness for so many across the southwest and the nation. We hope her new pups have inherited her wild spirit and that they are all allowed to roam wherever their wolfy hearts desire,” said Leia Barnett, Greater Gila New Mexico Advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “The release of this bonded family pack, alongside the removal of the I-40 boundary, would be meaningful steps towards the recovery of lobos.” 

Background

The Mexican gray wolf is the southernmost, most genetically distinct, and most imperiled gray wolf subspecies in North America. After the U.S. government trapped and poisoned the Mexican wolf from the United States and Mexico on behalf of the livestock industry, passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973 led to science-based captive breeding of seven survivors. In 1998, Mexican wolves were reintroduced to Arizona and New Mexico. 

Currently, at least 286 Mexican gray wolves survive in the wild in the United States and fewer than 20 in Mexico, where reintroduction began in 2011. Despite increasing numbers, government live removals and killings of genetically valuable wolves and inadequate releases of captive-born wolves have contributed to a dangerous reduction in the genetic diversity of the wild population since reintroduction began. The captive population retains somewhat more genetic diversity that scientists maintain must be shared with the wild population for successful recovery.

Learn more at www.mexicanwolves.org. 

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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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