Between 1915 and 1925, nearly 1,000 wolves were reportedly killed in Arizona and New Mexico.
While Mexican wolves tried to re-establish breeding populations and territories in the US for the next several decades, they were unsuccessful due to constant eradication pressures. Having been so successful in the US, eradication efforts in Mexico began.
The last Mexican wolf in the US was killed in 1970.
RECOVERY PROGRAM
Between 1977 and 1980, remaining Mexican wolves were captured in Mexico and became the foundation for a bi-national captive breeding program. The captive breeding program began with 7 wolves
The Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan was created in 1982. It expressed concern of never being able to delist the Mexican wolf due to the challenges of re-wilding captive-born pups
The initial goal of the Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan was to establish a population of 100 wolves in a 5,000 square mile area within their historic range
As the captive breeding program became more successful, researchers worked to declare a suitable reintroduction region. A portion of the Blue Range Wilderness between Arizona and New Mexico was selected for their recovery area
Strict regulations were put in place before reintroduction to better monitor and deal with wolf conflict in the reintroduction area
On March 29, 1998, 11 captive-born Mexican wolves were released into the recovery area
Conservation Series
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