Captive Mexican wolf running at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico
Conservation status
Critically Imperiled (NatureServe)[1]
Endangered (ESA)[2]
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Carnivora
Family:
Canidae
Genus:
Canis
Species:
C. lupus
Subspecies:
C. l. baileyi
Trinomial name
Canis lupus baileyi
(Nelson & Goldman, 1929)
C. l. baileyi range in 2023
The Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi), also known as the lobo,[a] is a subspecies of gray wolf native to southeastern Arizona and southern New Mexico in the United States, and northern Mexico. It once also ranged into western Texas. It is the smallest of North America's gray wolves,[3] and is similar to the Great Plains wolf (C. l. nubilus), though it is distinguished by its smaller, narrower skull and its darker pelt, which is yellowish-gray and heavily clouded with black over the back and tail.[4] Its ancestors were likely the first gray wolves to enter North America after the extinction of the Beringian wolf, as indicated by its southern range and basal physical and genetic characteristics.[5]
Though once held in high regard in Pre-Columbian Mexico,[6] it became the most endangered gray wolf subspecies in North America, having been extirpated in the wild during the mid-1900s through a combination of hunting, trapping, poisoning and digging pups from dens. After being listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1976, the United States and Mexico collaborated to capture all lobos remaining in the wild. This extreme measure forestalled their extinction. Five wild Mexican wolves (four males and one pregnant female) were captured alive in Mexico from 1977 to 1980 and used to start a captive breeding program. Through this program, captive-bred Mexican wolves were released into recovery areas in Arizona and New Mexico beginning in 1998 in order to recolonize the animals' historical range.[7]
As of 2024, there are at least 257 wild Mexican wolves in the US and 45 in Mexico, and 380 in captive breeding programs, up from the 11 lobos that were released in Arizona in 1998. 2021 was the most successful year so far for the recovery program, resulting in the highest number of individuals, pups born, pups survived, and packs. Approximately 60% of the lobos were found in New Mexico and 40% in Arizona although historically both states have had similar numbers of wolves. In 2021, the U.S. population had nearly doubled over 5 years. These numbers represent a minimum since the survey only counts wolf sightings confirmed by Interagency Field Team staff.[8][9][10]
^"Canis lupus baileyi". explorer.natureserve.org.
^"Revision to the Nonessential Experimental Population of the Mexican Wolf; Final Rule" (PDF). Federal Register. 87 (126): 39348–39373. July 1, 2022.
^Mech, L. David (1981), The Wolf: The Ecology and Behaviour of an Endangered Species, University of Minnesota Press, p. 350, ISBN 0-8166-1026-6
^Bailey, V. (1932), Mammals of New Mexico. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological Survey. North American Fauna No. 53. Washington, D.C. Pages 303–308.
^Chambers SM, Fain SR, Fazio B, Amaral M (2012). "An account of the taxonomy of North American wolves from morphological and genetic analyses". North American Fauna. 77: 1–67. doi:10.3996/nafa.77.0001. Note:"The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service."
^Cite error: The named reference valadez was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Nie, M. A. (2003), Beyond Wolves: The Politics of Wolf Recovery and Management, University of Minnesota Press, pp. 118–119, ISBN 0816639787
^"Wild Population of Mexican Wolves Grows for Fifth Consecutive Year". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. March 12, 2021. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
^"Mexican Wolf Numbers Soar Past 200 in Latest Count". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. February 27, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
^Cite error: The named reference :7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
The Mexicanwolf (Canis lupus baileyi), also known as the lobo, is a subspecies of gray wolf native to southeastern Arizona and southern New Mexico in...
wolves and Mexican wolves from Texas, a few coyote genetic markers have been found in the historical samples of some isolated Mexicanwolf individuals...
The wolf (Canis lupus; pl.: wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty...
native to Mexico, a hybrid of dog and wolf. It was developed in the 1990s in a cultural heritage project intended to recreate the ancient Mexican wolfdogs...
females. The wolf was extirpated from Mexico in the 1970s, when the U.S. and Mexican governments cooperated to capture all remaining wild Mexican wolves and...
eastern wolf (Canis lycaon or Canis lupus lycaon or Canis rufus lycaon), also known as the timber wolf, Algonquin wolf and eastern timber wolf, is a canine...
(Canis familiaris) with a gray wolf (Canis lupus), eastern wolf (Canis lycaon), red wolf (Canis rufus), or Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) to produce a...
wolf and the Great Plains wolf. The Mexicanwolf is the most ancestral of the gray wolves that live in North America today. The Great Plains wolf's distribution...
Wilderness Area of New Mexico. By 2014, as many as 100 wild Mexican wolves were in Arizona and New Mexico. The final goal for Mexicanwolf recovery is a wild...
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Mexicanwolf (Canis lupus baileyi) was reintroduced to Arizona, New Mexico, and the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico in 1998. Reintroduced Mexican wolves...
the species housed there. The Endangered Wolf Center is a founding member of the AZA's MexicanWolf and Red Wolf Species Survival Plans. As of August 2016...
Mogollon mountain wolf and the Texas wolf to be considered subspecies as the Mexicanwolf. This was because the Mogollon mountain wolf was seen as merely...
number of them have gone extinct. The nominate subspecies is the Eurasian wolf (Canis lupus lupus). In 1758, the Swedish botanist and zoologist Carl Linnaeus...
The Pleistocene wolf, also referred to as the Late Pleistocene wolf, is an extinct lineage or ecomorph of the grey wolf (Canis lupus). It was a Late Pleistocene...
The evolution of the wolf occurred over a geologic time scale of at least 300 thousand years. The grey wolf Canis lupus is a highly adaptable species that...
North American wolf-like canines indicates that the Beringian wolf was the ancestor of the southern wolf clade, which includes the Mexicanwolf and the extinct...
exhibit holds the zoo's pack of Mexican wolves, the most endangered species of wolf in the United States. In June 2020, Mexican gray wolves Kawi and Ryder...
the remnant wild Mexicanwolf populations. Analysis on the haplotype of some coyotes from Texas also detected the presence of male wolf introgression, such...
Wolf spiders are members of the family Lycosidae (from Ancient Greek λύκος (lúkos) 'wolf'). They are robust and agile hunters with excellent eyesight....
if they are selected for release into the MexicanWolf Recovery Area in New Mexico and Arizona. The Mexican gray wolves that are least likely to be released...
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state, and the reintroduced Mexicanwolf (Canis lupus baileyi) is too low in population numbers (and all known Mexicanwolf populations are over 100 miles...
Some haplotypes possessed by the Mexicanwolf, the Great Plains wolf, and the extinct Southern Rocky Mountain wolf were found to form a unique "southern...
Mexican States". The phrase República Mexicana, "Mexican Republic", was used in the 1836 Constitutional Laws. The earliest human artifacts in Mexico are...
smaller than its close relative, the gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological...
The Texas wolf (Canis lupus monstrabilis) is an extinct subspecies of gray wolf, distinct from the Texas red wolf (Canis rufus), whose range once included...
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