Mexican gray wolf population increases for the ninth year

The Mexican gray wolf population has increased 11% from the previous year, according to a wolf count report released by the Arizona and New Mexico departments of Game and Fish on Monday.

2024 marks the ninth consecutive year the Mexican gray wolf population in New Mexico and Arizona has grown, after much effort to increase the population by placing captive-bred wolf pups into wild dens. However, some environmental advocates are critical of the wolf recovery strategy and others are concerned Trump administration budget cuts could threaten the recovery effort.

“Each year, the wild Mexican wolf population numbers increase, and the areas they occupy expand. Genetic management using pups from captivity is also showing results,” Chief of Wildlife for New Mexico Game and Fish Stewart Liley said in a statement.

The Game and Fish departments count the wolves annually from November through February from helicopters, remote cameras and scat collection. There are at least 286 wolves in the two states, whereas there were 257 counted in 2023.

The Mexican gray wolf was listed as endangered in 1976 and the recovery effort is long-term. The first release into the wild was in 1998.

The recovery effort includes placing captive-born wolf pups in dens with similarly aged wild pups. Placing the wolf pups is meant to increase the genetic diversity of the wolf population. At least 20 of the fostered wolves have survived to adulthood and at least 10 have produced litters in the wild.

Environmental advocacy group Center for Biological Diversity is critical of the strategy, said Senior Conservation Advocate Michael Robinson. The nonprofit would like to see adult bonded pairs with pups released instead of fostered pups, because they believe adults would have a much better chance at surviving and increasing the genetic diversity of the wolf population.

While environmental advocates have pushed for increased wolf releases, the livestock industry has historically opposed releases over economic and human safety concerns.

Mexican gray wolves killed 99 livestock animals in 2024, with the majority, 77, in New Mexico, according to a final quarter report from the Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team. That represents a decline in livestock kills, down from 111 in 2023 and 137 in 2022. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services conducted 290 successful hazing events to discourage wolves from approaching rural homes and livestock.

Livestock producers can get compensation for confirmed livestock losses through two different federal programs.

Other environmental advocates are concerned about continued federal enforcement of the Endangered Species Act and continued funding for wolf recovery. President Donald Trump’s Office of Personnel Management and Department of Government Efficiency recently laid off many Forest Service employees, including at least one in New Mexico who was an expert on endangered fish species.

“We don’t always agree with how Mexican wolves are managed, but we know that without the continued federal engagement and the strong protections of the Endangered Species Act, we wouldn’t have this many lobos alive and in the wild,” Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project, said in a statement.