The Mexican Wolf (Lobo Mexicano – Canis lupus baileyi), one of the five subspecies of the Grey Wolf, a North America native which inhabits the sierra and desert of Chihuahua and Sonora in México and the southern states of Arizona, Texas and Nuevo México in the United States of America, has been declared, according to the official Mexican norm NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010, as an specie in the “in danger of extinction“ category, this as an upgrade from its previous “probably extinct in the wild“ status.
These good news are the result of the joint effort for its recovery, channeled into the frame of the program for the conservation of the species: Mexican grey Wolf (PACE), coordinated by the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (CONANP ) as part of the conservation program PROCER.
2011 marked the first releasing into the wild of specimens in the state of Sonora and due the fact that the they migrated through the Sierra Madre Occidental to the state of Chihuahua, the 11 subsequent releases were made in Chihuahua in the areas of the Janos’ Biosfera Reserve and the protected areas of Tutuaca and Papigochic.
The first reproductively successful couple was released in December of 2013 and by 2014 as consequence, the first pack of Mexican wolves of the program was registered in the wild, first time in more than 30 years of absence of wolves in Mexico. Since then 9 packs, 30 wolf cubs in total have been documented (the latest in September 2019). Notwithstanding, to consider the Mexican grey wolf as recuperated is far from accomplished and to achieve this status, a great quantity and quality of work must be done.
Rehabilitation, liberation, monitoring and risk-mitigation actions have been put in place as part of the program of conservation of these specimens, and for this, field work and schemes in matters such as environmental education, habitat improvement or environmental services’ fees are executed steadily with the local population. It is worth mentioning that the participation of all parts of society is of paramount importance to achieve the recuperation of the species, including fundamentally the communities located in the habitat in question as the key parts in the sustainable use and conservation of its natural resources.
Since 2016 support from the Project GEF species at risk has been implemented by the CONANP with collaboration from the United nation program for development (PNUD) and co-funding by the GEF (Global environment facility) through which the social and impact mitigation actions mentioned above have been strengthen.
Recent programs such as the WWF’s #protege a la manada (protect the pack) has also put the issue in the spotlight to help in the raising of awareness of the vital importance the recovery and protection of the Mexican Wolf has in the environment of the region.
It is worth mentioning that the Mexican grey wolf was almost extinct by men as a result of hunting, cattle rising issues and habitat deterioration. Because of the deterioration of the forests, wolves, which used to hunt deers, rabbits and other small animals, started to attack the cattle and as consecuence, the specie was hunted down and poisoned. By 1950 they began to dissapear.
