Roaming Mexican gray wolf moved south of I-40 a second time

New Mexico’s Department of Game and Fish relocated an endangered Mexican gray wolf on Friday after it strayed from is boundary a second time, drawing criticism from advocacy groups.

Male wolf 3065, nicknamed Taylor by conservationists, was captured north of Gallina by helicopter and then released in the Gila National Forest in Grant County, according to a Game and Fish news release. Since late October, the wolf has made significant movements north, showing no signs of returning to the recovery area.

Taylor was originally found uncollared in the Mount Taylor area by Game and Fish in May. The department was attempting to trap coyotes and accidentally captured him. Taylor was relocated to the Gila Flat area of Sierra County but wandered north of I-40 again in July.

Game and Fish officials say the wolf’s roaming is a sign that he’s seeking a mate, something they believe he’s unlikely to find in northern New Mexico.

The wayward wolf is part of a plan undertaken by New Mexico, Arizona and federal agencies to recover the species by hosting an experimental population area, bounded at the northern end by Interstate 40.

When wolves roam outside of that area, state or federal agencies often relocate them back within the experimental population area. Several environmental advocacy groups have long pushed for expanding the wolves’ range and have taken issue with the latest relocation.

The Mexican gray wolf was listed as endangered in 1976, and an international captive breeding program began, with efforts to conserve the species in the United States and Mexico. In 1998, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service started releasing Mexican gray wolves in the experimental population area. The wild population of wolves has increased annually for the last nine years, with 286 wolves documented in the wilderness in 2024. Genetic diversity remains a concern for the species’ long-term survival.

“As there are no other known Mexican wolves in the area, there was a potential risk of mortality as well as a likelihood of a negative interaction or breeding with domestic dogs,” the news release on Taylor’s recapture said.

But Greta Anderson, deputy director of the Western Watersheds Project, thinks the agency is “grasping at straws” for a justification to move the wolf and maintain the I-40 boundary.

“The threats to Mexican gray wolves of illegal killing or not being able to find a suitable mate exist throughout the range of the species,” Anderson said.

There have been 18 Mexican gray wolf deaths in New Mexico and Arizona this year, the majority in New Mexico. One of those deaths was a female wolf, F2996, that traveled north of I-40 to the Mount Taylor area in March after escaping from a crate west of Show Low, Arizona, during an annual population count.

Establishing multiple subpopulations at the Grand Canyon, in the southern Rockies and within the Gila would aid in species recovery, according to Anderson.

“If anything happens to one population, like disease or wildfire, there’d be backup populations on the ground and animals would disperse in these corridors and mix with each other and start creating more genetic diversity by having these multiple subpopulations,” Anderson said.

Allowing the wolf to wander could also teach researchers more about wolf ecology and appropriate habitat for wolves in northern New Mexico, she said.

Taylor is the fifth wolf to travel north of I-40 in New Mexico since 2017. The most well-known wanderer, female wolf 2754 — also called Asha — was relocated into captivity in 2023 and paired with a male wolf. The two had a litter of pups earlier this year and were released as a pack in southern New Mexico.