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Related Links:
There are some very good web resources dedicated to
the Mexican Gray Wolf recovery efforts. Follow the links below to view these sites.
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The Mexican Gray Wolf, also known more plainly as the
Mexican Wolf, is the rarest and most unique subspecies of the Gray Wolf in North America.
Once common in the mountain regions of the Southwestern United States and Mexico, the
Mexican wolf was thought to exist only in captivity from the early-1980’s to the
mid-1990’s.
Mexican
Wolf Timeline: |
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D. R. Parsons conducted a
detailed case study of the Mexican Wolf’s Recovery Program that originally appeared
in the New Mexico Journal of Science in 1996. 
Click on the Wolf to view this case. |
- 1976 - The Fish and Wildlife Service lists the Mexican
Wolf as an Endangered Species.
- 1980 - Five Mexican Wolves transferred to the
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Arizona to establish a captive breeding program.
- 1982 – Mexican Wolf recovery plan is officially
approved by the Fish and Wildlife Service.
- 1998 –Mexican Wolf is reintroduced into the
Southwest Region of the United States. Reintroduced wolves would be designated as a
"nonessential experimental" population.
- Defenders of Wildlife has established and maintains a
fund of over $100,000 that pays cash compensation to livestock owners who suffer
verifiable livestock losses to wolves. Financial contributions to the program come from
both urban and rural wolf supporters. The ecological and economic benefits of wolf
recovery far outweigh the costs. The projected $500,000 per year needed for implementation
of Mexican wolf reintroduction is trivial compared to the staggering costs of subsidizing
consumptive industries which unlike wolves can devastate public lands and require
additional federal dollars to mitigate damages. While it would not cost much to simply
release wolves into the wild and allow them to recover on their own, proper management
will ensure the concerns of private landowners and livestock operators are adequately
addressed.
(Source: Defenders of Wildlife)
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To view a Congressional Research Service
report that analyzes the reintroduction of various species of Wolves. 
Click on the Library of Congress to view this research.
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The Fish and Wildlife
Service has set up a web-site specifically dedicated to following the recovery efforts of
the Mexican Wolf. 
Click on the Fish and Wildlife Service to visit their site.
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