Biology:Mexican wolf

From HandWiki
Short description: Subspecies of grey wolf

Mexican wolf
Mexican Wolf 2 yfb-edit 1.jpg
Captive Mexican wolf running at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

Critically Imperiled (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification e
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Canis
Species:
Subspecies:
C. l. baileyi
Trinomial name
Canis lupus baileyi
(Nelson & Goldman, 1929)
Mexican gray wolf distribution 2023.svg
C. l. baileyi range in 2023

The Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi), also known as the lobo,[lower-alpha 1] 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 2023, there are 241 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]

Taxonomy

The Mexican wolf was first described as a distinct subspecies in 1929 by Edward Nelson and Edward Goldman on account of its small size, narrow skull and dark pelt.[10] This wolf is recognized as a subspecies of Canis lupus in the taxonomic authority Mammal Species of the World (2005).[11] In 2019, a literature review of previous studies was undertaken by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The position of the National Academies is that the historic population of Mexican wolf represents a distinct evolutionary lineage of gray wolf, and that modern Mexican wolves are their direct descendants. It is a valid taxonomic subspecies classified as Canis lupus baileyi.[12]

Lineage

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) migrated from Eurasia into North America 70,000–23,000 years ago[13][14] and gave rise to at least two morphologically and genetically distinct groups. One group is represented by the extinct Beringian wolf[13][15] and the other by the modern populations.[13] One author proposes that the Mexican wolf's ancestors were likely the first gray wolves to cross the Bering Land Bridge into North America during the Late Pleistocene after the extinction of the Beringian wolf,[15] colonizing most of the continent until pushed southwards by the newly arrived ancestors of the Great Plains wolf (C. l. nubilus).[5]

A haplotype is a group of genes found in an organism that are inherited together from one of their parents.[16][17] Mitochondrial DNA (mDNA) passes along the maternal line and can date back thousands of years.[18] A 2005 study compared the mitochondrial DNA sequences of modern wolves with those from thirty-four specimens dated between 1856 and 1915. The historic population was found to possess twice the genetic diversity of modern wolves,[19][20] which suggests that the mDNA diversity of the wolves eradicated from the western US was more than twice that of the modern population. Some haplotypes possessed by the Mexican wolf, the Great Plains wolf, and the extinct Southern Rocky Mountain wolf were found to form a unique "southern clade". All North American wolves group together with those from Eurasia, except for the southern clade which form a group exclusive to North America. The wide distribution area of the southern clade indicates that gene flow was extensive across the recognized limits of its subspecies.[20]

In 2016, a study of mitochondrial DNA sequences of both modern and ancient wolves generated a phylogenetic tree which indicated that the two most basal North American haplotypes included the Mexican wolf and the Vancouver Island wolf.[21]

In 2018, a study looked at the limb morphology of modern and fossil North American wolves. The major limb bones of the dire wolf, Beringian wolf, and most modern North American gray wolves can be clearly distinguished from one another. Late Pleistocene wolves on both sides of the Laurentide Ice Sheet — Cordilleran Ice Sheet possessed shorter legs when compared with most modern wolves. The Late Pleistocene wolves from the Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming and Rancho La Brea, southern California were similar in limb morphology to the Beringian wolves of Alaska. Modern wolves in the Midwestern US and northwestern North America possess longer legs that evolved during the Holocene, possibly driven by the loss of slower prey. However, shorter legs survived well into the Holocene after the extinction of much of the Pleistocene megafauna, including the Beringian wolf. Holocene wolves from Middle Butte Cave (dated less than 7,600 YBP) and Moonshiner Cave (dated over 3,000 YBP) in Bingham County, Idaho were similar to the Beringian wolves. The Mexican wolf and pre-1900 samples of the Great Plains wolf resembled the Late Pleistocene and Holocene fossil gray wolves due to their shorter legs.[13]

Ancestor

In 2021, a mitochondrial DNA analysis of North American wolf-like canines indicates that the extinct Late Pleistocene Beringian wolf was the ancestor of the southern wolf clade, which includes the Mexican wolf and the Great Plains wolf. The Mexican wolf is the most ancestral of the gray wolves that live in North America today.[22]

Hybridization with coyotes and other wolves

Skull

Multiple recent studies using morphological (skull measurements) and genetic datasets have concluded that Mexican wolves hybridized in clinal fashion with other wolf subspecies where both met. The Mexican Wolf Recovery plan (2017, First Revision) currently plans to manage against such occurrence in the event that Northern Rockies and Mexican wolves come into contact to protect against a genetic swamp (i.e. genes of one group become dominant and thus result in loss of genes of another group). While the purity of Mexican wolf DNA composition is important for the time being, a natural, free-ranging wolf population on a continental scale would include hybridization between different subspecies to occur freely. Mexican wolves are under considerable threat from low genetic diversity and inbreeding because all wild Mexican wolves share on average the same amount of genes as full siblings do (all present day wild wolves are descendants of an original 7, called founders).[23]

Unlike eastern wolves and red wolves, the gray wolf species rarely interbreeds with coyotes in the wild. Direct hybridizations between coyotes and gray wolves was never explicitly observed. Nevertheless, in a study that analyzed the molecular genetics of the coyotes as well as samples of historical red wolves and Mexican wolves from Texas, a few coyote genetic markers have been found in the historical samples of some isolated individual Mexican wolves. Likewise, gray wolf Y-chromosomes have also been found in a few individual male Texan coyotes.[24] This study suggested that although the Mexican gray wolf is generally less prone to hybridizations with coyotes compared to the red wolf, there may have been exceptional genetic exchanges with the Texan coyotes among a few individual gray wolves from historical remnants before the population was completely extirpated in Texas. However, the same study also countered that theory with an alternative possibility that it may have been the red wolves, who in turn also once overlapped with both species in the central Texas region, who were involved in circuiting the gene-flows between the coyotes and gray wolves much like how the eastern wolf is suspected to have bridged gene-flows between gray wolves and coyotes in the Great Lakes region since direct hybridizations between coyotes and gray wolves is considered rare.[24]

In tests performed on a sample from a taxidermied carcass of what was initially labelled as a chupacabra, mitochondrial DNA analysis conducted by Texas State University professor Michael Forstner showed that it was a coyote. However, subsequent analysis by a veterinary genetics laboratory team at the University of California, Davis concluded that, based on the sex chromosomes, the male animal was a coyote–wolf hybrid sired by a male Mexican wolf.[25][26] It has been suggested that the hybrid animal was afflicted with sarcoptic mange, which would explain its hairless and blueish appearance.[25]

A study in 2018 that analyzed wolf populations suspected to have had past interactions with domestic dogs found no evidence of significant dog admixture into the Mexican wolf.[27] Another study in the same year was published in the PLOS Genetics Journal which analyzed the population genomics of gray wolves and coyotes from all over North America.[28] This study detected the presences of coyote admixtures in various western gray wolf populations, all previously thought to be free of coyote-introgression, and found that the Mexican wolves carry 10% coyote admixture. The study's author also suggests that the admixture from coyotes may have also played a role in the basal phylogenetic placement of this subspecies.

Distribution

Early accounts of the distribution of the Mexican wolf included southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and western Texas in the U.S., and the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico. This past distribution is supported by ecological, morphological, and physiographic data. The areas described coincide with the distribution of the Madrean pine-oak woodlands, a habitat which supports Coues’ white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus couesi) that were historically the Mexican wolf's main prey.[29]

Today, following their reintroduction and conservation, Mexican wolves are widely distributed across western New Mexico and eastern Arizona, largely coinciding with the Apache-Sitgreaves and Gila National Forests.[30] Under the current Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan, this area is categorized as predominantly Wolf Management Zone 1 (the former Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area).[31] A small population of wolves have also been reintroduced to Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico.[32]

History

The Aztec god Xolotl, depicted here in the 15th century Codex Fejervary-Mayer, may have been based on the Mexican wolf rather than a dog as once believed.[6]

The Mexican wolf was held in high regard in Pre-Columbian Mexico, where it was considered a symbol of war and the Sun. In the city of Teotihuacan, it was common practice to crossbreed Mexican wolves with dogs to produce temperamental, but loyal, animal guardians. Wolves were also sacrificed in religious rituals, which involved quartering the animals and keeping their heads as attire for priests and warriors. The remaining body parts were deposited in underground funerary chambers with a westerly orientation, which symbolized rebirth, the Sun, the underworld and the canid god Xolotl.[6] The earliest written record of the Mexican wolf comes from Francisco Javier Clavijero's Historia de México in 1780, where it is referred to as Cuetzlachcojotl, and is described as being of the same species as the coyote, but with a more wolf-like pelt and a thicker neck.[33]

The Apache call Mexican wolves "ba'cho" or "ma'cho." There is a "wolf song" that is passed down through oral tradition in the tribe, which was historically used to summon the wolf's power before battle. Other prayers and rituals have traditionally invoked the power of the wolf and other beings before deer hunts.[34][35] Other indigenous names for the Mexican wolf include "shee’e" (Akimel O'odham/Pima) and "Ma’iitsoh" (Diné/Navajo). The Hopi call the wolf kachina (spirit being) "Kweo." The Havasupai have many traditional stories about Mexican wolves.[35]

Traditional Zuni wolf fetish.

Decline

There was a rapid reduction of Mexican wolf populations in the Southwestern United States from 1915 to 1920; by the mid-1920s, livestock losses to Mexican wolves became rare in areas where the costs once ranged in the millions of dollars.[36] Vernon Bailey, writing in the early 1930s, noted that the highest Mexican wolf densities occurred in the open grazing areas of the Gila National Forest, and that wolves were completely absent in the lower Sonora. He estimated that there were 103 Mexican wolves in New Mexico in 1917, though the number had been reduced to 45 a year later. By 1927, it had apparently become extinct in New Mexico.[4] Sporadic encounters with wolves entering Texas, New Mexico and Arizona via Mexico continued through to the 1950s, until they too were driven away through traps, poison and guns. The last wild wolves to be killed in Texas were a male shot on December 5, 1970, on Cathedral Mountain Ranch and another caught in a trap on the Joe Neal Brown Ranch on December 28. Wolves were still being reported in small numbers in Arizona in the early 1970s, while accounts of the last wolf to be killed in New Mexico are difficult to evaluate, as all the purported "last wolves" could not be confirmed as genuine wolves rather than other canid species.[36]

The Mexican wolf persisted longer in Mexico, as human settlement, ranching and predator removal came later than in the Southwestern United States. Wolf numbers began to rapidly decline during the 1930s–1940s, when Mexican ranchers began adopting the same wolf-control methods as their American counterparts, relying heavily on the indiscriminate usage of 1080.[36]

Conservation and recovery

A pair of Mexican wolves with pups at Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility in Socorro, New Mexico

The Mexican wolf was listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1976, with the Mexican Wolf Recovery Team being formed three years later by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.[37] The Recovery Team composed the Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan, which called for the reestablishment of at least 100 wolves in their historic range through a captive breeding program. Between 1977 and 1980, four males and a pregnant female were captured in Durango and Chihuahua in Mexico to act as founders of a new "certified lineage". Three lineages were brought into the United States: McBride, Ghost Ranch and Aragón.[38] Due to the limited number of founders for each lineage, these wolves can potentially carry the risks of inbreeding.[38] However, cross-lineaged wolves have less inbreeding coefficients and greater reproductive success than purebred lineages.[38] By 1999, with the addition of new lineages, the captive Mexican wolf population throughout the US and Mexico reached 178 individuals. These captive-bred animals were subsequently released into the Apache National Forest in eastern Arizona, and allowed to recolonize east-central Arizona and south-central New Mexico, areas which were collectively termed the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area (BRWRA). The lack of livestock-free zones and tolerance for these captive wolves outside of their restoration area can be challenging for Mexican wolf conservation.[39] The Recovery Plan called for the release of additional wolves in the White Sands Wolf Recovery Area in south-central New Mexico, should the goal of 100 wild wolves in the Blue Range area not be achieved.[7]

On October 11, 2011, 5 wolves (2 males and 3 females) were released into Sonora's Madrean Sky Islands in Mexico. Since then, Mexico's National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) has facilitated 19 wolf releases into the country.[40][32]

By late 2012, it was estimated that there were at least 75 wolves and four breeding pairs living in the recovery areas, with 27% of the population consisting of pups. Since 1998, 92 wolf deaths were recorded, with four occurring in 2012; these four were all due to illegal shootings.[41] Releases have also been conducted in Mexico, and the first birth of a wild wolf litter in Mexico was reported in 2014.[42] A study released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in February 2015 showed a minimum population of 109 wolves in 2014 in southwest New Mexico and southeast Arizona, a 31 percent increase from 2013.[43] In 2015, a court ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife revise the management rules.[44]

According to a survey done on the population of the Mexican wolf in Alpine, Arizona, the recovery of the species is being negatively impacted due to poaching; poaching accounted for 50% of all Mexican wolf mortalities from 2008 to 2019.[45] In an effort to fight the slowing recovery, GPS monitoring devices are being used to monitor the wolves.[46] In 2016, 14 Mexican wolves were killed, making it the highest death count of any year since they were reintroduced into the wild in 1998. Two of the deaths were caused by officials trying to collar the animals. The rest of the deaths remain under investigation.[47][48]

In July 2017, approximately 31 wild Mexican gray wolves inhabited Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico, in the northern Sierra Madre Occidental. As of November 2017, 114 Mexican gray wolves were living in the wild in Arizona and New Mexico, distributed in 22 packs across the two states.[49] In February 2018, five more wolves were released in Chihuahua, bringing the total wild population in Mexico (Sonora and Chihuahua) to thirty-seven wolves.[50] In 2018, six Mexican wolf pups from the Endangered Wolf Center were sent to dens in Arizona and New Mexico for their survival.[51] In 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services discovered that 52 of 90 wolf pups born earlier in 2018 had survived to adulthood. These new wolves brought the number of Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico to 163, with 87 wolves in New Mexico and 76 in Arizona.[52] The 2019 census also found more than 30 in Mexico.[53]

Eight Mexican wolf cubs were born at the Desert Museum in Saltillo, Coahuila on July 1, 2020.[54] In March 2021, a family of nine Mexican gray wolves (a breeding pair of wolves and their seven pups) were released into the wild of northern Mexico, bringing the total number of wolves in Mexico to around 40 wild individuals. A 2021 census also revealed that there were now approximately 186 Mexican gray wolves in the American Southwest, with about 72 wolves in Arizona and 114 in New Mexico.[55]

Captive-born wolves may be released as a well-bonded pack consisting of a breeding pair along with their pups. Captive-born pups, who are less than 14 days old, are also released by being placed with similarly aged pups to be raised as wild wolves. In 2021, 22 pups were placed into wild dens to be raised by surrogate packs under this method known as cross-fostering.[56]

In June 2021, a year-old male Mexican gray wolf named Anubis traveled out of the Mexican Wolf Recovery Area and settled in the Coconino National Forest in central Arizona.[57] He was one of several Mexican gray wolves to have dispersed into the area over several years; the male individual may be the first permanent resident of Mexican gray wolves to settle in the Coconino National Forest.[58] The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was ordered by the court to review the rule that caps the U.S. population at 325 wolves.[59] In 2021, a male Mexican gray wolf was stopped from crossing from New Mexico into Mexico by a section of border wall.[60] By March 30, 2022, there were approximately 196 Mexican gray wolves living in the wild of Arizona and New Mexico.[61]

Current population

On March 9, 2022, two new breeding pairs of Mexican gray wolves were released into the wild in the state of Chihuahua in northern Mexico, bringing the total number of wild Mexican gray wolves in the country to around 35-45 individuals.[62][63]

On February 28, 2023, the Fish and Wildlife Services discovered that the wild population of Mexican gray wolves in the American Southwest had increased to 241 wolves, with 136 wolves (40 packs) in New Mexico and 105 wolves (19 packs) in Arizona.[9] The annual pup survival rate was 67%. 109 wolves (45% of the population) have collars for monitoring and management. 2022 had the lowest number of mortalities (12 total) since 2017. The total captive Mexican wolf population is 380 individuals, across over 60 facilities.[9]

Interagency Field Team

The wild Mexican wolf population in the United States is managed by the Interagency Field Team (IFT), whose collaborating participants include the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Forest Service, the White Mountain Apache Tribe, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, USDA APHIS Wildlife Services, National Park Service, Species Survival Plan, and Bureau of Land Management.[9]

The IFT has a partnership with Mexico's National Commission for Natural Protected Areas and Directorate General for Wildlife to continue binational collaboration for Mexican wolf recovery.[64]

The IFT employs active conservation. Anti-poaching is strongly enforced, as poaching has been found to increase during periods of relaxed protection.[23][45][65] Wolf locations, movements, and populations are monitored via tracking collared individuals and the use of remote cameras.[9][66][67][68] The team uses several methods to mitigate predation on livestock.[69] Some pastures are surrounded by fladry (flagging) hung on electrified fences.[70] Range riders accompany cattle to discourage wolf presence. When wolves are spotted near livestock, the range riders employ non-lethal ammunition such as cracker shells and rubber bullets. Wolf packs that live near livestock areas are sometimes given diversionary food caches. Livestock producers are given financial compensation when their animals are killed by wolves, and are paid to remove cattle carcasses in order to discourage wolf scavenging.[23][71][68][72] Individual wolves that are particularly harmful to livestock can be selectively removed, though these management removals have largely decreased over time.[23][45]

Revised Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan

In September 2022, the US Fish and Wildlife Service published the court-ordered Second Revision of the Recovery Plan. The plan provides a detailed assessment of the population, ecology, threats, management strategies, and future initiatives. It lists several criteria for downlisting (changing the classification from Endangered to Threatened) and delisting (removal of the species from the Federal Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants).[23]

The criteria for delisting in the United States include: a stable or growing population over 8 years, with an average of at least 320 individuals; the implementation of State and Tribal regulations to ensure that the population remains this size or greater; and all available genetic diversity from the captive population is incorporated into the wild via reintroduction. Similar criteria are in place for Mexico, except for a lower minimum population requirement of 200 individuals.[23]

Ecology and behavior

Life history

Mexican wolves live in packs of approximately 4 to 8 individuals, which hunt collaboratively. Like other wolves, Mexican wolves communicate with scent marking, body postures, and a range of calls that include barks, growls, whines, and howling.[73][74][75] Packs are typically composed of a monogamous breeding pair and their offspring of several years.[75] A pack's home range varies based on several factors, including the time of year, pack and litter size, ungulate biomass, tree cover, winter snow depth, and human population density. Home ranges average 446 km2; shifting from an average 234 km2 during denning season, to 373 km2 post-denning, to 518 km2 during non-denning season.[76] Mexican wolves most frequently inhabit areas away from developed land and open areas, closer to water bodies and dirt roads, and in forested areas with about 16-30% canopy cover.[77][78] They are typically most active at dawn and the middle of the night, but also can be active at dusk depending on the season.[77] Previous literature has shown gray wolves are most active at dawn and dusk, however, much of this research comes from national parks and protected areas, so it is theorized Mexican wolves have shifted some of their activity to night to avoid people.[77] Mexican wolves breed in February, and gestate for 63 days. They give birth to litters averaging 4-6 pups in April and early May. When wolves reach the age of 1–2 years old, they disperse in search of a mate to begin their own pack. Mexican wolves in the wild typically live 6–8 years.[79]

Diseases

Mexican wolves have been subject to diseases such as canine parvovirus and canine distemper virus in the wild, and eastern equine encephalitis virus in captivity.[80][81][82]

Diet

Mexican wolves, like other wolves worldwide, are opportunistic predators and primarily prey on large ungulates. Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus canadensis nelsoni) make up about 76–80% of their prey.[83][84] The most common demographic of elk that are predated on are calves, which make up two thirds of all native ungulates that the wolves prey on.[85] Elk appear to attempt to balance their nutritional demands with predation risk from Mexican wolves seasonally and incorporate both proactive and reactive responses to mitigate predation risk from Mexican wolves (and mountain lions).[77] They also spend a greater proportion of time foraging and vigilant, and a lower proportion of time resting, in areas with greater wolf predation risk.[86] Other native prey includes mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), Coues white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus couesi), collared peccary (Dicotyles tajacu), wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), and small mammals such as rabbits and squirrels. Up to 16% of their diet may include domestic cattle (Bos taurus) in certain parts of their range, especially in locations where the cattle graze and calve year-round as opposed to seasonally.[75][83][84][87][88] Investigations have suggested that reports of wolf depredation on livestock were sometimes exaggerated or fabricated.[89] As a result, the Recovery Program has adopted more stringent standards of proof to determine which animals were killed by wolves.[90][91]

Competition

Mexican wolves share their habitat and prey with other carnivores, including mountain lions (Puma concolor), American black bears (Ursus americanus), coyotes (Canis latrans), bobcats (Lynx rufus), red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus).[87][92] Historically, they also competed with jaguars (Panthera onca) and grizzly bears (Ursus arctos).[93] Unlike wolves elsewhere, Mexican wolves do not significantly affect the behavior or populations of competing carnivore species.[94]

Habitat

The Mexican wolf's range is predominantly located in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest and the Gila National Forest, a mountainous ecosystem with many lakes, streams, and other varied terrain. In this region, the most common habitat types are Ponderosa pine forest, pinyon-juniper woodland, and Madrean encinal and pine-oak woodland. Other habitat includes mixed-conifer forest, semi-desert grassland, Great Basin and Colorado Plateau grassland-steppe, subalpine grassland, aspen forest, and spruce-fir forest.[30] Aspen research suggests that Mexican wolves have not yet altered elk behavior and populations so as to trigger a trophic cascade in the manner observed in Yellowstone National Park (e.g. facilitating aspen regeneration), likely due to the fact that the Mexican wolves still have a relatively small, highly dispersed population.[95]

This habitat contains at least 537 plant and animal species. Additional mammals include Abert's squirrels, white-nosed coatis, ringtails, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn. Birds vary from raptors like Mexican spotted owls, Apache northern goshawks, and bald eagles; to waterfowl such as American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos), tundra swans (Cygnus columbianus), and pied-bill grebes (Podilymbus podiceps); to songbirds like the pygmy nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea). Streams are inhabited by native fishes including Apache trout (Oncorhynchus apache), Bluehead and desert sucker (Catostomus discobolus and C. clarkii), Loach Minnow (Rhinichthys cobitis), Roundtail Chub (Gila robusta), and many more.[30][96] Local reptiles and amphibians include bullsnakes, black-tailed rattlesnakes, crevice spiny lizards, and New Mexico spadefoot toads.[97]

In popular culture

A Mexican wolf pack features in Ernest Thompson Seton's 1898 short story "Lobo, the King of Currumpaw." The story, largely based on Seton's real-life experience, features Lobo and his mate, Blanca, the alpha pair of their pack, who predate upon the vast herds of livestock on the Currumpaw ranch in New Mexico. Seton tells about the conflict between the wolves and the many hunters and trappers who they outwit, until Seton himself manages to kill the breeding pair.[98][99] In a rarity for the time, Seton portrayed the wolves in a sympathetic light, and himself, the hunter, as the antagonist.[100] Seton became an advocate for wolf conservation later in his life as a result of his experience.[101] Lobo's pelt is on display at Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico.[102]

Decades later, conservationist Aldo Leopold had a similar life changing encounter when he killed a Mexican wolf in the Gila Wilderness in 1909. In his famous essay, Thinking Like a Mountain, Leopold highlighted the “green fire” in the dying wolf's eyes to provide empathy to the animal, while also explaining the ecological benefits that wolves provide to their habitat. Like Seton, Leopold would go on to become an advocate for predator conservation.[103][104][105][106]

In 2023 the Mexican wolf was featured on a United States Postal Service Forever stamp as part of the Endangered Species set, based on a photograph from Joel Sartore's Photo Ark. The stamp was dedicated at a ceremony at the National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall, South Dakota.[107]

See also

Notes

  1. Spanish: Lobo mexicano; Social:Nahuatl languages: Cuetlāchcoyōtl

References

  1. "Canis lupus baileyi". https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104666/Canis_lupus_baileyi. 
  2. "Revision to the Nonessential Experimental Population of the Mexican Wolf; Final Rule". Federal Register 87 (126): 39348–39373. July 1, 2022. https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/federal_register_document/2022-14025.pdf. 
  3. 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
  4. 4.0 4.1 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.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "An account of the taxonomy of North American wolves from morphological and genetic analyses". North American Fauna 77: 1–67. 2012. 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."". 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Valadez, Raúl; Rodríguez, Bernardo; Manzanilla, Linda; Tejeda, Samuel (2016). "Dog-wolf Hybrid Biotype Reconstruction from the Archaeological City of Teotihuacan in Prehispanic Central Mexico". in Snyder, Lynn M; Moore, Elizabeth A.. Dogs and People in Social, Working, Economic or Symbolic Interaction. Oxbow Books. pp. 120–130. ISBN 978-1-78570-428-4. https://colegionacional.org.mx/sacscms/xstatic/colegionacional/docs/espanol/lmza/lmza_icaz_2002.pdf. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 Nie, M. A. (2003), Beyond Wolves: The Politics of Wolf Recovery and Management, University of Minnesota Press, pp. 118–119, ISBN:0816639787
  8. "Wild Population of Mexican Wolves Grows for Fifth Consecutive Year". March 12, 2021. https://www.fws.gov/news/ShowNews.cfm?ref=wild-population-of-mexican-wolves-grows-for-fifth-consecutive-year&_ID=36861. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 "Mexican Wolf Numbers Soar Past 200 in Latest Count" (in en). 2023-02-27. https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2023-02/mexican-wolf-numbers-soar-past-200. 
  10. Nelson, E. W.; Goldman, E. A. (May 1929). "A New Wolf from Mexico". Journal of Mammalogy 10 (2): 165. doi:10.2307/1373839. 
  11. Wozencraft, W.C. (2005). "Order Carnivora". in Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 575–577. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/biology/resources/msw3/browse.asp?id=14000751.  url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JgAMbNSt8ikC&pg=PA576
  12. National Academies Of Sciences, Engineering (2019). Evaluating the Taxonomic Status of the Mexican Gray Wolf and the Red Wolf. doi:10.17226/25351. ISBN 978-0-309-48824-2. 
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Tomiya, Susumu; Meachen, Julie A. (January 2018). "Postcranial diversity and recent ecomorphic impoverishment of North American gray wolves". Biology Letters 14 (1): 20170613. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2017.0613. PMID 29343558. 
  14. Koblmüller, Stephan; Vilà, Carles; Lorente-Galdos, Belen; Dabad, Marc; Ramirez, Oscar; Marques-Bonet, Tomas; Wayne, Robert K.; Leonard, Jennifer A. (September 2016). "Whole mitochondrial genomes illuminate ancient intercontinental dispersals of grey wolves (Canis lupus)". Journal of Biogeography 43 (9): 1728–1738. doi:10.1111/jbi.12765. Bibcode2016JBiog..43.1728K. 
  15. 15.0 15.1 Leonard, Jennifer A.; Vilà, Carles; Fox-Dobbs, Kena; Koch, Paul L.; Wayne, Robert K.; Van Valkenburgh, Blaire (July 2007). "Megafaunal Extinctions and the Disappearance of a Specialized Wolf Ecomorph". Current Biology 17 (13): 1146–1150. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2007.05.072. PMID 17583509. 
  16. Cox, C. B.; Moore, Peter D.; Ladle, Richard (2016). Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-118-96858-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=b6fQCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA106. 
  17. Editorial Board (April 2012). Concise Dictionary of Science. V&s Publishers. ISBN 978-93-81588-64-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=62SfTzdUS1cC. 
  18. Arora, Devender; Singh, Ajeet; Sharma, Vikrant; Bhaduria, Harvendra Singh; Patel, Ram Bahadur (30 June 2015). "HgsDb: Haplogroups Database to understand migration and molecular risk assessment". Bioinformation 11 (6): 272–275. doi:10.6026/97320630011272. PMID 26229286. 
  19. pp. 106–107 in Miklósi, Ádám (2014). "Comparative overview of Canis". Dog Behaviour, Evolution, and Cognition. pp. 97–123. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199646661.003.0005. ISBN 978-0-19-964666-1. 
  20. 20.0 20.1 Leonard, Jennifer A.; Vilà, Carles; Wayne, Robert K. (January 2005). "FAST TRACK: Legacy lost: genetic variability and population size of extirpated US grey wolves (Canis lupus)". Molecular Ecology 14 (1): 9–17. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2004.02389.x. PMID 15643947. Bibcode2005MolEc..14....9L. 
  21. Ersmark, Erik; Klütsch, Cornelya F. C.; Chan, Yvonne L.; Sinding, Mikkel-Holger S.; Fain, Steven R.; Illarionova, Natalia A.; Oskarsson, Mattias; Uhlén, Mathias et al. (2 December 2016). "From the Past to the Present: Wolf Phylogeography and Demographic History Based on the Mitochondrial Control Region". Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 4. doi:10.3389/fevo.2016.00134. 
  22. Wilson, Paul J.; Rutledge, Linda Y. (July 2021). "Considering Pleistocene North American wolves and coyotes in the eastern Canis origin story". Ecology and Evolution 11 (13): 9137–9147. doi:10.1002/ece3.7757. PMID 34257949. Bibcode2021EcoEv..11.9137W. 
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2022. Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan, Second Revision. Region 2, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
  24. 24.0 24.1 Hailer, Frank; Leonard, Jennifer A. (8 October 2008). "Hybridization among Three Native North American Canis Species in a Region of Natural Sympatry". PLOS ONE 3 (10): e3333. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003333. PMID 18841199. Bibcode2008PLoSO...3.3333H. 
  25. 25.0 25.1 "Texas State University Researcher Helps Unravel Mystery of Texas 'Blue Dog' Claimed to be Chupacabra" . bionews-tx.com (2013-09-01)
  26. Long, Sonny (October 31, 2008) "DNA results show chupacabra animal is mixture of coyote, Mexican wolf". Victoria Advocate.
  27. Fitak, Robert R; Rinkevich, Sarah E; Culver, Melanie (11 May 2018). "Genome-Wide Analysis of SNPs Is Consistent with No Domestic Dog Ancestry in the Endangered Mexican Wolf (Canis lupus baileyi)". Journal of Heredity 109 (4): 372–383. doi:10.1093/jhered/esy009. PMID 29757430. 
  28. Sinding, MS; Gopalakrishan, S; Vieira, FG; Samaniego Castruita, JA; Raundrup, K; Heide Jørgensen, MP; Meldgaard, M; Petersen, B et al. (2018). "Population genomics of grey wolves and wolf-like canids in North America". PLOS Genet 14 (11): e1007745. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1007745. PMID 30419012. 
  29. Heffelfinger, James R.; Nowak, Ronald M.; Paetkau, David (July 2017). "Clarifying historical range to aid recovery of the Mexican wolf". The Journal of Wildlife Management 81 (5): 766–777. doi:10.1002/jwmg.21252. Bibcode2017JWMan..81..766H. 
  30. 30.0 30.1 30.2 Vander Lee, B., Smith, R., & Bate, J. (2004). Ecological & Biological Diversity of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests In Ecological and Biological Diversity of National Forests in Region 3. The Nature Conservancy.
  31. 88 FR 10258
  32. 32.0 32.1 Jenkinson, Orlando (11 March 2022). "Endangered Mexican Wolves Released Into Chihuahua Wilderness". Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/endangered-mexican-wolves-released-chihuahua-wilderness-1686840. 
  33. Clavijero, Francisco Javier (1817) The history of Mexico, Volume 1, Thomas Dobson, p. 57
  34. "Ba'cho" (in en). https://www.arizonahighways.com/article/bacho. 
  35. 35.0 35.1 Rinkevich, Sarah E (2012). An assessment of abundance, diet, and cultural significance of Mexican gray wolves in Arizona (Thesis). ProQuest 1020132667.[page needed]
  36. 36.0 36.1 36.2 USFWS, (1982), Mexican wolf recovery plan, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
  37. "AZGFD: Record number of Mexican wolf pups fostered into the wild". 2021-06-08. https://ktar.com/story/4475624/azgfd-record-number-of-mexican-wolf-pups-fostered-into-the-wild/. 
  38. 38.0 38.1 38.2 Hedrick, P. W.; Fredrickson, R. J. (January 2008). "Captive breeding and the reintroduction of Mexican and red wolves". Molecular Ecology 17 (1): 344–350. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03400.x. PMID 18173506. Bibcode2008MolEc..17..344H. 
  39. Povilitis, Anthony; Parsons, David R.; Robinson, Michael J.; Dusti Becker, C. (August 2006). "The Bureaucratically Imperiled Mexican Wolf". Conservation Biology 20 (4): 942–945. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00489.x. PMID 16922210. Bibcode2006ConBi..20..942P. 
  40. "Mexican Grey Wolves released in Sonora". http://wildsonora.com/article/mexican-grey-wolves-released-sonora. 
  41. USFWS (2012), Mexican Wolf Recovery Program: Progress Report #15, US Fish and Wildlife Service
  42. Gannon, Megan (21 July 2014). "First Litter of Wild Wolf Pups Born in Mexico". Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/46898-mexico-first-wild-born-wolves.html. 
  43. Humphrey, Jeff and Lambert, Lynda (February 13, 2015) 2014 Mexican Wolf Population Survey Complete – Population Exceeds 100 . U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  44. Skabelund, Adrian (July 7, 2021). "Conservation groups oppose removal as wildlife managers monitor Mexican gray wolf near Flagstaff" (in en). https://azdailysun.com/news/local/conservation-groups-oppose-removal-as-wildlife-managers-monitor-mexican-gray-wolf-near-flagstaff/article_94c68f0b-7bc0-54d6-bc7f-2f18e20e79a2.html. 
  45. 45.0 45.1 45.2 Breck, Stewart W.; Davis, Amy J.; Oakleaf, John K.; Bergman, David L.; deVos, Jim; Greer, J. Paul; Pepin, Kim (4 August 2023). "Factors affecting the recovery of Mexican wolves in the Southwest United States" (in en). Journal of Applied Ecology 60 (10): 2199–2209. doi:10.1111/1365-2664.14483. ISSN 0021-8901. https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.14483. 
  46. "How Mexican gray wolves are tracked in the wild". USA Today (2016-01-28).
  47. "CONFIRMED: 14 ENDANGERED MEXICAN GRAY WOLVES KILLED IN 2016". Gohunt. January 9, 2017. https://www.gohunt.com/read/news/confirmed-14-endangered-mexican-gray-wolves-killed-in-2016#gs.5cbkpyA. 
  48. "Feds: 14 endangered Mexican wolves found dead in 2016". AZCentral. January 4, 2017. http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-science/2017/01/04/feds-14-endangered-mexican-wolves-found-dead-2016/96161412/. 
  49. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2019). "Is the Mexican Gray Wolf a Valid Subspecies?" (in en). Evaluating the Taxonomic Status of the Mexican Gray Wolf and the Red Wolf. pp. 41–50. doi:10.17226/25351. ISBN 978-0-309-48824-2. https://www.nap.edu/read/25351/chapter/6. 
  50. "Liberan 5 ejemplares de lobo mexicano en Chihuahua" (in es). 9 February 2018. http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estados/liberan-5-ejemplares-de-lobo-mexicano-en-chihuahua. 
  51. Clark, Patrick (2018-04-26). "Endangered Mexican Wolf pups transferred to New Mexico and Arizona" (in en-US). https://fox2now.com/news/endangered-mexican-wolf-pups-transferred-to-new-mexico-and-arizona/. 
  52. Calma, Justine (2020-03-18). "Mexican gray wolf numbers in the US soared in 2019" (in en). The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/18/21185236/mexican-gray-wolf-population-us-2019-pups. 
  53. Pirehpour, Kevin /Cronkite (2021-02-09). "Habitat plays crucial role in protecting two wolf groups in U.S., Mexico" (in en-US). Cronkite News – Arizona PBS. https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2021/02/09/habitat-plays-crucial-role-in-protecting-two-wolf-groups-in-us-mexico/. 
  54. "Las tiernas imágenes de los ocho cachorros de lobo gris mexicano que nacieron en Saltillo" (in es-ES). July 2, 2020. https://www.infobae.com/america/fotos/2020/07/02/las-tiernas-imagenes-de-los-ocho-cachorros-de-lobo-gris-mexicano-que-nacieron-en-saltillo/. 
  55. Montoya Bryan, Susan (March 12, 2021). "Wild population of endangered Mexican wolves keeps growing" (in en-US). Yahoo News. Associated Press. https://news.yahoo.com/wild-population-endangered-mexican-wolves-163854568.html. 
  56. "Record number of endangered Mexican gray wolf pups placed into dens to be raised by surrogate packs in Southwest U.S." (in en-US). KTLA. 2021-06-07. https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/record-number-of-endangered-mexican-gray-wolf-pups-placed-into-dens-to-be-raised-by-surrogate-packs-in-southwest-u-s/. 
  57. Shumaker, Scott (2021-08-26). "Lone Mexican wolf leaves mark in summer out west" (in en-US). http://www.redrocknews.com/2021/08/26/lone-mexican-wolf-leaves-mark-in-summer-out-west/. 
  58. Shumaker, Scott (2021-06-25). "Wolf Anubis roams now-closed national forests" (in en-US). Sedona Red Rock News. http://www.redrocknews.com/2021/06/25/wolf-anubis-roams-now-closed-national-forests/. 
  59. Botts, Lindsey (2021-09-18). "Wildlife officials drew a line at I-40 for Mexican gray wolves, but has it hurt recovery?" (in en-US). The Arizona Republic. https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2021/09/18/has-interstate-40-boundary-hurt-recovery-mexican-gray-wolf/8281680002/. 
  60. "An endangered wolf went in search of a mate. The border wall blocked him". January 21, 2022. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/mexican-gray-wolf-migration-stopped-by-border-wall. 
  61. "Wild population of Mexican wolves grows in size for sixth year | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service" (in en). 2022-03-30. https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2022-03/wild-population-mexican-wolves-grows-size-sixth-year. 
  62. Protegidas, Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales. "La Conanp cierra el 2020 con la decimocuarta y decimoquinta liberación de lobo mexicano en la Reserva de la Biósfera Janos, en Chihuahua" (in es). http://www.gob.mx/conanp/prensa/la-conanp-cierra-el-2020-con-la-decimocuarta-y-decimoquinta-liberacion-de-lobo-mexicano-en-la-reserva-de-la-biosfera-janos-en-chihuahua. 
  63. "Mexico releases two pairs of endangered gray wolves – Albuquerque Journal". March 9, 2022. https://www.abqjournal.com/2477896/mexico-releases-two-pairs-of-endangered-gray-wolves-ex-animals-came.html. 
  64. "Partners Sign Letter of Intent to Forward Collaborative Binational Approach to Mexican Wolf Recovery | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service" (in en). 2022-07-13. https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2022-07/partners-sign-letter-intent-forward-collaborative-binational-approach-mexican. 
  65. Louchouarn, Naomi X.; Santiago-Ávila, Francisco J.; Parsons, David R.; Treves, Adrian (March 2021). "Evaluating how lethal management affects poaching of Mexican wolves" (in en). Royal Society Open Science 8 (3). doi:10.1098/rsos.200330. ISSN 2054-5703. PMID 33959305. Bibcode2021RSOS....800330L. 
  66. Service, U. S. Fish and Wildlife (2021-01-30). "Recovering Mexican Wolves: How Radio Collars Contribute to Conservation" (in en). https://usfws.medium.com/recovering-mexican-wolves-how-radio-collars-contribute-to-conservation-6f36bb8722a8. 
  67. Russo, Brianna M.; Jones, Andrew S.; Clement, Matthew J.; Fyffe, Nathan; Mesler, Jacob I.; Rubin, Esther S. (June 2023). "Camera trapping as a method for estimating abundance of Mexican wolves" (in en). Wildlife Society Bulletin 47 (2). doi:10.1002/wsb.1416. ISSN 2328-5540. https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wsb.1416. 
  68. 68.0 68.1 "Conserving the Mexican Wolf | What We Do | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service" (in en). https://www.fws.gov/program/conserving-mexican-wolf. 
  69. swyland@sfnewmexican.com, Scott Wyland (2023-12-26). "N.M. ranchers to get $3 million to protect against predators like Mexican wolves" (in en). https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/n-m-ranchers-to-get-3-million-to-protect-against-predators-like-mexican-wolves/article_366064c2-a417-11ee-8cf7-8f0b903cc889.html. 
  70. "Of Men and Wolves: & Tolerance on the Range" (in en-US). 2015-07-24. https://mexicanwolves.org/of-men-and-wolves-tolerance-on-the-range/. 
  71. "Mexican Gray Wolf | Defenders of Wildlife" (in en). 2023-12-12. https://defenders.org/wildlife/mexican-gray-wolf. 
  72. "Carcass removal program aims to reduce Mexican wolf depredation losses" (in en). https://www.williamsnews.com/news/2023/feb/14/carcass-removal-program-aims-reduce-mexican-wolf-d/. 
  73. Servín, Jorge (2000). "Duration and frequency of chorus howling of the mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi)" (in en). Acta zoológica mexicana (80): 223–231. ISSN 0065-1737. http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0065-17372000000200013&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=en. 
  74. "Vertebrate Zoology Project: Variation in Howling Between Captive and Wild Wolves (Canis lupus) and the Possible Implications for the Mexican Wolf (Canis lupus baileyi)". 1996. http://www.unm.edu/~aschultz/wolfpro.html. 
  75. 75.0 75.1 75.2 "Conserving the Mexican Wolf | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service" (in en). https://www.fws.gov/program/conserving-mexican-wolf. 
  76. Lichwa, Evelyn (2021-01-01). "Ecological and social drivers of Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) home range patterns across spatiotemporal scales". Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/526. 
  77. 77.0 77.1 77.2 77.3 Thompson, Cara J. (2022). "Elk Habitat Selection in Response to Predation Risk from Mexican Gray Wolves". New Mexico State University ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2724219425?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true&sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses. 
  78. Guajardo, C. A. (2023). An analysis of canopy cover within the home ranges of Mexican wolves (Canis lupus baileyi) reintroduced into New Mexico and Arizona (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.
  79. "Mexican Gray Wolf" (in en-US). https://www.wildlifesciencecenter.org/mexican-gray-wolf. 
  80. Justice-Allen, Anne; Clement, Matthew J. (2019). "Effect of Canine Parvovirus and Canine Distemper Virus on the Mexican Wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) Population in the USA". Journal of Wildlife Diseases 55 (3): 682–688. https://doi.org/10.7589/2018-07-175. 
  81. Thompson, Kimberly A.; Henderson, Eileen; Fitzgerald, Scott D.; Walker, Edward D.; Kiupel, Matti (April 2021). "Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus in Mexican Wolf Pups at Zoo, Michigan, USA". Emerging Infectious Diseases 27 (4): 1173–1176. doi:10.3201/eid2704.202400. ISSN 1080-6040. PMID 33754982. PMC 8007284. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8007284/. 
  82. Hedrick, Philip W.; Lee, Rhonda N.; Buchanan, Colleen (2003). "Canine Parvovirus Enteritis, Canine Distemper, and Major Histocompatibility Complex Genetic Variation in Mexican Wolves". Journal of Wildlife Diseases 39 (4): 909–913. doi:10.7589/0090-3558-39.4.909. 
  83. 83.0 83.1 Reed, Janet E.; Ballard, Warren B.; Gipson, Philip S.; Kelly, Brian T.; Krausman, Paul R.; Wallace, Mark C.; Wester, David B. (November 2006). "Diets of Free-Ranging Mexican Gray Wolves in Arizona and New Mexico". Wildlife Society Bulletin 34 (4): 1127–1133. doi:10.2193/0091-7648(2006)34[1127:DOFMGW2.0.CO;2]. 
  84. 84.0 84.1 Merkle, Jerod A.; Krausman, Paul R.; Stark, Dan W.; Oakleaf, John K.; Ballard, Warren B. (December 2009). "Summer Diet of the Mexican Gray Wolf (Canis lupus baileyi)". The Southwestern Naturalist 54 (4): 480–485. doi:10.1894/CLG-26.1. 
  85. Smith, J. B.; Greenleaf, A. R.; Oakleaf, J. K. (2023). "Kill rates on native ungulates by Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico". Journal of Wildlife Management 87 (8): e22491. doi:10.1002/jwmg.22491. Bibcode2023JWMan..87E2491S. 
  86. Farley, Zachary J. (2022). "Influence of Mexican Gray Wolves on Elk Behavior in Relation to Maternal Constraints, Multitasking, and Predation Risk". New Mexico State University ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2676582923?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true&sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses. 
  87. 87.0 87.1 Carrera, Rogelio; Ballard, Warren; Gipson, Philip; Kelly, Brian T.; Krausman, Paul R.; Wallace, Mark C.; Villalobos, Carlos; Wester, David B. (February 2008). "Comparison of Mexican Wolf and Coyote Diets in Arizona and New Mexico". The Journal of Wildlife Management 72 (2): 376–381. doi:10.2193/2007-012. 
  88. Breck, Stewart W.; Kluever, Bryan M.; Panasci, Michael; Oakleaf, John; Johnson, Terry; Ballard, Warren; Howery, Larry; Bergman, David L. (2011-02-01). "Domestic calf mortality and producer detection rates in the Mexican wolf recovery area: Implications for livestock management and carnivore compensation schemes". Biological Conservation 144 (2): 930–936. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2010.12.014. ISSN 0006-3207. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320710005239. 
  89. Roberts, Spencer (2022-05-24). "Endangered Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Is Being "Sabotaged" by Ranchers Who Claim the Canines Are Killing Cattle — and the Federal Employees Who Sign Off on Reports" (in en-US). https://theintercept.com/2022/05/24/mexican-gray-wolf-endangered-wildlife-services-fraud/. 
  90. TucsonSentinel.com; Shailer, Daniel. "Not so big or bad?: Stricter probes into dead cattle to curtail 'endemic antagonism' vs. gray wolves" (in en-US). http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report//082923_wolves_livestock_deaths/. 
  91. "USDA APHIS Wildlife Services (WS) Evidence Standards for Determining Livestock Depredations by Mexican Wolves in Arizona and New Mexico". August 2023. https://westernwatersheds.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/mx-wolf-program.pdf. 
  92. "Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest – National Forest Foundation". https://www.nationalforests.org/our-forests/find-a-forest/apache-sitgreaves-national-forest. 
  93. Grant, Richard; Hatcher, Bill. "The Return of the Great American Jaguar" (in en). https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/return-great-american-jaguar-180960443/. 
  94. Hoskinson, Joshua Scott (2018). "Mexican Gray Wolves and the Ecology of Fear: A Comparative Assessment of Community Assemblages in Arizona". The University of Arizona. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/628170. 
  95. Beschta, Robert L.; Ripple, William J. (July 2010). "Mexican wolves, elk, and aspen in Arizona: Is there a trophic cascade?". Forest Ecology and Management 260 (5): 915–922. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2010.06.012. 
  96. "Birds of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest". 15 February 2023. https://www.wmonline.com/birds-of-the-apache-sitgreaves-national-forest/. 
  97. Mimbres, Mailing Address: 26 Jim Bradford Trail; Us, NM 88049 Phone: 575-536-9461 Contact. "Reptiles/Amphibians – Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)" (in en). https://www.nps.gov/gicl/learn/nature/reptiles.htm. 
  98. "CommonLit | Lobo, the King of Currumpaw by Ernest Seton Thompson" (in en). https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/lobo-the-king-of-currumpaw. 
  99. Vea, Tanner (2010-10-08). "The Wolf That Changed America ~ The Photographs and Artwork of Ernest Thompson Seton | Nature | PBS" (in en-US). https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/the-wolf-that-changed-america-the-photographs-and-artwork-of-ernest-thompson-seton/4336/. 
  100. "About Ernest Thompson Seton | ET Seton Legacy Project" (in en-US). https://ernestthompsonseton.com/ernest-thompson-seton/. 
  101. "About the Ernest Thompson Seton Legacy Project and Curator David L. Witt" (in en-US). https://ernestthompsonseton.com/seton-legacy-project/. 
  102. "Lobo, the King of Currumpaw" (in en-US). https://www.philmontscoutranch.org/museums/setonmemoriallibrary/lobo/. 
  103. Leopold, Aldo. 1949. A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There. Oxford University Press, New York.
  104. "Leopold and a New Vision for Predators" (in en-US). 2010-05-05. https://mexicanwolves.org/leopold-and-a-new-vision-for-predators/. 
  105. "Episode 20: A Mexican wolf pup’s journey into the wild" (in en). 2023-05-23. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/podcasts/overheard/article/a-mexican-wolf-pups-journey-into-the-wild. 
  106. Parsons, David R. (1998). ""Green Fire" Returns to the Southwest: Reintroduction of the Mexican Wolf". Wildlife Society Bulletin 26 (4): 799–807. ISSN 0091-7648. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3783553. 
  107. "Postal Service Spotlights Endangered Species". United States Postal Service. April 19, 2023. https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2023/0419ma-postal-service-spotlights-endangered-species.htm. 

Further reading

  • Bass, Rick (2007), The New Wolves: The Return of the Mexican Wolf to the American Southwest, Globe Pequot. ISBN: 9781599212289 (Originally published 1998)
  • Holaday, B. (2003), Return of the Mexican Gray Wolf: Back to the Blue, University of Arizona Press, ISBN:0816522960
  • McBride, Roy T. (1980). The Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi): a historical review and observations on its status and distribution. OCLC 762059287. 
  • McCarthy, Cormac (1994), The Crossing, Everyman's Library Knopf, ISBN:0375407936, A poignant fictional account of a young cowboy's capture of a wolf.
  • Robinson, M. (2005), Predatory Bureaucracy: The Extermination of Wolves and the Transformation of the West, University Press of Colorado, ISBN:0870818198
  • Shaw, H. (2002), The Wolf in the Southwest: The Making of an Endangered Species, High-Lonesome Books, ISBN:0944383599

External links

Wikidata ☰ Q531300 entry