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PRESS RELEASE: Federal Gunmen Shoot Endangered Mexican Gray Wolf Pup, Target Second Wolf

For Immediate Release, August 21, 2025

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Federal Gunmen Shoot Endangered Mexican Gray Wolf Pup, Target Second Wolf

SILVER CITY, N.M.— Newly released records reveal that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to kill two genetically valuable Mexican gray wolves. One of them — a 3-month-old female pup on the Gila National Forest in New Mexico — was shot from the air last week.

The other targeted wolf, a young adult male in the Bear Canyon pack, is still alive in the Apache National Forest in Arizona. The Department of Agriculture shot his mother from the air in April while she was thought to be pregnant. Recently, he has found a mate with whom he now travels.

“Gunning down a wolf pup from the air whose precious genes could have helped save her entire subspecies was cruel and will further stall recovery of these animals,” said Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “There’s still time to call off the helicopter gunmen and halt another unjust execution. One killing is too many, and the death of a second wolf would be heartbreaking.”

The Center for Biological Diversity has requested the Fish and Wildlife Service and Arizona Game and Fish Department call off the kill order.

“The responsibility for preventing livestock conflict with native carnivores on public lands rests with the livestock operators,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project. “Wolves shouldn't have to pay with their lives for taking advantage of the easy prey left unattended in wolf habitat, and nor should the recovery effort be driven by the livestock industry's wolf removal agenda.”

Like the wolf who was already killed, the young male wolf has genes that are underrepresented in the population. Previous government wolf killings and a shutdown almost two decades ago on releases of well-bonded family packs to the wild led to significant losses of genetic diversity. Genetically rare wolves like those targeted can aid recovery because they are not as closely related to other wolves.

Mexican wolves already suffer from physiological and reproductive ailments caused by lack of genetic diversity.

“The ongoing assault on the wild, natural world is reflected in these gross kill orders,” said Chris Smith, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians. “People should be asking: why do imperiled, native wildlife have to make way for private profit?”

“The last thing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — the agency charged with the recovery of these wolves — should be doing is ordering the killing of these highly endangered animals, especially those that are so genetically important to the population,” said Sandy Bahr, director of Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon chapter. “We need to require that livestock interests do more to limit conflicts and stop merely killing wolves on their behalf.”

“This is not recovery, it’s a moral failure. Killing a 3-month-old wolf pup from a helicopter shows how far federal management has strayed from science, ethics and public trust,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “Let lobos lead and allow them to become active agents in their recovery. Wolves belong. They are sentient, social beings who deserve the chance to raise families and shape the landscapes they inhabit. It’s time to move beyond reactive removals and invest in proactive conflict mitigation.”

Background

Starting in 1915 the U.S. government trapped and poisoned Mexican wolves and destroyed pups in their dens on behalf of the livestock industry, expanding its efforts in 1950 to killing wolves in Mexico and only stopping after the 1973 passage of the Endangered Species Act. Descendants of seven survivors who were captured and bred were reintroduced to the Southwest in 1998 and to northern Mexico in 2011.

Since President Trump’s return to office this year, the Fish and Wildlife Service has ramped up removals, with state support. These removals include:

April 14: The mistaken identity shooting of the likely pregnant, genetically valuable matriarch of the Bear Canyon pack in the Apache National Forest. This wolf was the mother of the young male wolf now being targeted.
April 22: The killing of the father wolf of the Hail Canyon pack on a severely grazed allotment in the Gila National Forest, where for decades cattle that died of non-wolf causes attracted wolves to scavenge. There is no information that the Hail Canyon pack had scavenged on carrion.
May 27: The live capture of the parents and two pups, along with the deliberate killing of a third pup, who comprised the southernmost wolf family in the United States, the ManÞada del Arroyo pack, in the Coronado National Forest in Arizona. This family includes genetically valuable wolves.
Aug. 12: The aerial shooting of the 3-month-old, genetically valuable female from the Dillon Mountain pack in New Mexico.

PRESS RELEASE: Captured Mexican Gray Wolf Asha Released With Mate, Pups in New Mexico

For Immediate Release, August 7, 2025

Contact: Greta Anderson, Western Watersheds Project, (520) 623-1878, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Michael Robinson, Center for Biological Diversity, (575) 313-7017, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Leia Barnett, WildEarth Guardians, (970) 406-2125, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Claire Musser, Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, (928) 202-1325, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Regan Downey, Wolf Conservation Center, (914) 763-2373, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Erin Hunt, Lobos of the Southwest, (928) 421-0187, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mary Katherine Ray, Rio Grande Chapter Sierra Club, 575-537-1095 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Nico Lorenzen, Wild Arizona, (520) 289-0147, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Captured Mexican Gray Wolf Asha Released With Mate, Pups in New Mexico

SILVER CITY, N.M. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today released into the wild an endangered Mexican gray wolf called Asha, along with her mate and pups. Asha was featured in National Geographic and other media for twice roaming north of Interstate 40 in New Mexico before being captured and kept in prolonged captivity for having strayed beyond the arbitrary northern boundary of the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area.

Asha is a female adult wolf who was released with her captive-born mate Arcadia and their five pups onto the conservation-managed, 244-square-mile Ladder Ranch. The property adjoins the Aldo Leopold Wilderness within the Gila National Forest. The Service named the wolf family the Quartz pack, though conservation groups had previously dubbed them the Caldera Pack in honor of Asha’s journeys to the Valles Caldera National Preserve.

“Asha should never have been punished with a year and a half in captivity for merely wandering north of I-40, but we’re grateful to the agencies for doing the right thing now and setting this family free,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project. “May her puppies grow up in a world without arbitrary limits on their roaming, and we wish this young family all the best.”

As they mature and eventually breed, the Quartz pack pups have the potential to add genes to the wild population which suffers from low genetic diversity.

“I’m thrilled that Asha is free again along with her captive-born family,” said Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Her senseless capturing twice deprived her of the opportunity to find a mate in the Rocky Mountains and expand the Mexican wolf’s range. May her pups grow up with their mom’s intrepid spirit and the savvy that kept her alive across so many miles.”

The Quartz pack was released six weeks after they were originally scheduled to be freed in June, and only after 8,000 citizens emailed and 36 conservation organizations wrote the Service and the Department of the Interior in July seeking their immediate release.

The delayed release meant that the captive-born pups missed the best opportunity to become accustomed to their natural prey of elk, which Mexican wolves typically learn to hunt in June and early July when elk calves abound.

“Asha’s story should have continued in northern New Mexico where her instincts led her to travel twice — that is historic and future wolf country,” said Leia Barnett, Greater Gila New Mexico advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “But until wildlife management agencies recognize that highways shouldn’t dictate where wildlife lives, Asha and the Quartz pack being released back into the Gila is the next best thing. We celebrate her new family’s next wild chapter.”

“Asha reminds us what it means to be wild; she followed her instincts, not a map. Her release with a mate and pups is a powerful testament to the resilience of wolves, but it’s also a reminder that recovery demands more than relocation," said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. "For Mexican gray wolves to truly thrive, they must be treated as active agents in their own recovery. Asha is a wild wolf, not a pet in need of protection; she deserves a wild life, not a managed one. Our duty is not to keep her safe by keeping her confined, but to keep her free by ensuring the landscapes she needs remain wild and connected.”

“The return of Asha to her ancestral home is worth celebrating — the wild has been waiting for her since 2023,” said Regan Downey, director of education and advocacy at the Wolf Conservation Center. “Imagine the excitement and curiosity coursing through the Quartz pack; for Asha, this is a wild homecoming, and for her family, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Run free, lobos!”

“We are filled with hope that Asha, her mate, Arcadia, and their pups, Kachina, Aspen, Sage, Kai, and Aala, will roam freely for years to come,” said Erin Hunt, managing director of Lobos of the Southwest. “They may not be able to read lines on a map, but these lobos can read the landscape and know where they belong. This young family will have an excellent teacher in their mom Asha, and the wild place they will call home will be better off with their presence.”

“A year and a half is a long time in the life of a wolf, but we can now celebrate that Asha’s extended captivity is over. She, along with her family, are free and wild the way wolves are meant to be,” said Mary Katherine Ray, Wildlife Chair, Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club. “We also celebrate the addition of this wolf family back into wild nature to contribute to the restoration of what was lost when wolves were thoughtlessly exterminated.”

“Asha is a champion of conservation, but not of her own choosing. For the people of the Southwest she represents our rewilding, the hope that a wolf can roam of her own accord and instincts. Her capture reminds us of the challenges that beset that vision while her release is a signal that we, collectively, can still make the right decisions for ourselves, or wild lands, and most of all the animals that cohabit these lands with us.” said Nico Lorenzen of Wild Arizona. “Asha and her family know nothing of this conceptual struggle, all they seek is the ability to travel the land and return to hunt and run on those landscapes that they know best, free from capture and unnecessary outside influence. Let Asha and the Quartz Pack Roam.”

Background

Until the December 2023 Colorado reintroduction of northern gray wolves, who are required to stay within the state, the Mexican gray wolf was the only endangered species required by regulation to stay within politically-derived boundaries. Because of these geographic bans, wild wolves are not allowed from I-40 all the way to the New Mexico-Colorado border. Independent scientists maintain that wolves returning to the southern Rocky Mountains region is vital for the Mexican wolf’s recovery.

The mission of Western Watersheds Project (WWP) is to protect and restore western watersheds and wildlife through education, public policy initiatives, and legal advocacy.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

WildEarth Guardians is a conservation nonprofit whose mission is to protect and restore the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West. Guardians has offices in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington, and over 179,000 members and supporters worldwide

Lobos of the Southwest is a collaborative effort of concerned community members and local, regional, and national conservation, scientific and sportsmen’s organizations working to save the endangered Mexican gray wolf.

The Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project is dedicated to bringing back wolves to help restore ecological health in the Grand Canyon region, while also recognizing wolves as sentient beings with intrinsic value and worth.

The Sierra Club's mission is to explore, enjoy, and protect the Earth's wild places, promote the responsible use of the Earth's ecosystems and resources, and educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment

The Wolf Conservation Center’s mission is to advance the survival of wolves by inspiring a global community through education, advocacy, research, and recovery.

Wild Arizona’s mission is to protect, unite, and restore wild lands and waters across Arizona and beyond, for the enrichment and health of all generations, and to ensure Arizona's native plants and animals a lasting home in wild nature. We organize and amplify multi-community voices of support for legislation and special designations; advocate for conservation policy and planning based in science; and cultivate stewardship, conservation awareness, and well-being through outdoor volunteerism, science, and education.

PRESS RELEASE: Another Mexican Gray Wolf Crosses Interstate 40 in New Mexico, Conservationists Urge Wildlife Officials to Let ‘Taylor’ Roam

For Immediate Release, July 24, 2025

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Another Mexican Gray Wolf Crosses Interstate 40 in New Mexico

Conservationists Urge Wildlife Officials to Let ‘Taylor’ Roam

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Thirty-five conservation organizations today asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service not to recapture a Mexican gray wolf who crossed Interstate 40 in New Mexico over the weekend. The wolf has returned to the area around Mount Taylor where he had previously been trapped and removed in May.

The wolf, dubbed “Taylor” for his repeated travel to the iconic mountain west of Albuquerque, was released in the Gila National Forest south of the Gila Cliff Dwellings. Over the past several weeks he covered more than 150 miles to reach Mount Taylor again.

“Taylor should be allowed to stay near his namesake mountain or wherever else he wants to go, regardless of the noxious political deal that led the Fish and Wildlife Service to ignore scientists and ban wolves north of I-40,” said Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Wolves have always crossed these arbitrary lines. Now more than ever Mexican wolves need connections with wolves to the north to increase their diminished genetic diversity.”

Independent scientists have determined that Mexican wolf recovery will require the species to inhabit broader areas than presently permitted, including in the Rocky Mountains in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Scientists also believe that connectivity with northern gray wolves in Colorado would bring much-needed genes to combat inbreeding in the Mexican wolf population.

“You can lead a wolf to the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area but you can't make him stay there,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project. “Taylor and the other wanderers have voted with their paws to redraw the geographic limits of the recovery area, and we should honor their meaningful input by revising the management boundaries.”

Since 2017 four other wolves have crossed I-40 and been located near Mount Taylor, likely drawn to the area because there are few people and plenty of prey such as elk. One of those wolves was Asha, who was captured twice from the region in 2023. Asha, her mate and their five genetically valuable pups are currently languishing in captivity after the Fish and Wildlife Service delayed their release without explanation.

“We are once again watching with wonder as a Mexican wolf follows its wild instincts to disperse into New Mexico’s vast swaths of good habitat north of I-40,” said Sally Paez, staff attorney for New Mexico Wild. “For the Mexican wolf to recover, it's critical that management policies allow dispersal into these additional wildlands, especially as our imperiled wolf population faces increasing pressures from chronic drought, wildfire and humans.”

“Wolves need to roam. But also, the ecosystems north of I-40 remain incomplete without the wolves that once lived there,” said Mary Katherine Ray, wildlife chair of the Rio Grande chapter of the Sierra Club. “Taylor and the wolves before him who have traveled north affirm this and fulfill the restoration of both.”

“Taylor knows where he belongs. Wolves like him are showing us what real recovery looks like, not confined by arbitrary lines, but led by instinct, resilience and the search for connection,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “If we truly care about their survival, we must let lobos lead.”

“Taylor's return to the Mount Taylor region is just more evidence that lobos want and need to move north of the arbitrary I-40 boundary,” said Leia Barnett, Greater Gila advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “This game of capturing wolves that go north and either moving them into captivity, as in Asha's case, or moving them back south is an exercise in futility and an ongoing barrier to meaningful recovery. Taylor must be allowed to roam and this should, once again, be cause for reconsideration of the I-40 boundary.”

Background

Mexican wolves are the only endangered animals that have rules requiring them to stay within politically determined boundaries. When initially reintroduced in 1998, the wolves were largely confined to the Gila National Forest in New Mexico and the Apache National Forest and Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona.

A 2004 Center for Biological Diversity petition showed that the region was insufficient and requested the wolves be allowed to roam. Two follow-up lawsuits led to a 2015 rule allowing the wolves to roam from the border with Mexico to I-40, even though by that time additional research showed the wolves needed lands north of I-40 for their recovery.

RSMexican-gray-wolves-Mt-Taylor-FPWC-hpr Mexican gray wolves near Mt. Taylor, New Mexico map by Western Watersheds Project and Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. Image is available for media use.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.8 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

Founded in 1997, New Mexico Wild is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) grassroots organization dedicated to the protection, restoration, and continued enjoyment of New Mexico’s wildlands and wilderness areas. For decades, New Mexico Wild has been at the forefront of protecting our small Mexican wolf population, keeping remote areas of the state wild enough for them to thrive and advocating for responsible wildlife management policies.

The mission of the Sierra Club and its 35,000 Rio Grande Chapter members and supporters in New Mexico and West Texas is to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.

The mission of Western Watersheds Project is to protect and restore western watersheds and wildlife through education, public policy initiatives, and legal advocacy.

WildEarth Guardians protects the wildlife and wild places in the American West, and protects the health of the public and our planet.

PRESS RELEASE: Letter Demands Release of Asha, Her Family

For immediate release: July 8, 2025

Media contacts:

Greta Anderson, Western Watersheds Project, (520)623-1878, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Chris Smith, WildEarth Guardians, 505-395-6177, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Erin Hunt, Lobos of the Southwest, 928-421-0187, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Jacqueline Covey, Defenders of Wildlife, 630-427-7164, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mary Katherine Ray, Rio Grande Sierra Club, 575-537-1095, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Claire Musser, Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, 928-202-1325 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Regan Downey, Wolf Conservation Center, 914-763-2373, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Nico Lorenzen, Wild Arizona, (520) 289-0147, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Michael Robinson, Center for Biological Diversity, (575) 313-7017, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Letter Demands Release of Asha, Her Family

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Thirty-six conservation groups representing millions of members and supporters from across the United States today sent a formal letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that requested the immediate release of Mexican gray wolf Asha, her mate, and their five puppies. The wolf family was slated to be released on the Ladder Ranch in June but has been subjected to unexplained delay.

The Caldera Pack consists of a female, named Asha in an online youth wolf-naming contest, her mate Arcadia, and their five pups Kachina, Aspen, Sage, Kai and Aala. Asha was born in the wild and became an icon in 2023 after she twice crossed the Fish and Wildlife Service’s arbitrary northern boundary for Mexican wolf movements marked by Interstate 40. She has been captured once before and released. She was captured again after her second infraction, and the Service paired her with the captive-born Arcadia, publicly stating they would be released after pups were born.

The release was scheduled for June 23 but postponed supposedly due to logistics. However, the livestock industry has been lobbying to halt wolf releases. The conservation groups are worried that the release is being stalled out for political reasons.

“Delaying the release risks missing the critical window when Asha could teach her pups how to hunt native elk calves and give the pack the opportunity to localize on these private lands,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project. “The planned release was well-timed for optimum success, but better late than never. The government should move as quickly as possible to get these wolves on the ground this week.”

“Asha and her young family represent incredible promise for Mexican wolf recovery and Asha’s story has captured the nation - she deserves to be free,” said Chris Smith, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians. “The fact that she has been held captive for so long is wrong. She needs to be released now.”

“Asha’s release is much more than a promise made — it’s a critical piece of Mexican gray wolf restoration grounded in decades of science, responsibility and real community investment,” said Craig Miller, Defenders of Wildlife’s senior Southwest representative. “Her new family represents years of genetic planning, public engagement and the hard-won lessons of coexistence. Delaying or denying Asha’s and their release risks undermining the very recovery efforts the public, conservationists, and agencies have worked so hard to achieve.”

“That Asha, who wandered so far and so freely, should languish in captivity indefinitely, possibly for the rest of her life, is unbearable,” said Mary Katherine Ray, Wildlife Chair for the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club. “We are calling on the US Fish and Wildlife Service to keep its promise to free her and her family for the future of wolf genetic diversity, for the intent of the law, and for the decency that Asha deserves.”

“Asha’s story reminds us what’s at stake: not just a wolf, but a wild future. She dared to cross an invisible line on a map, and now she and her pups are paying the price," said Claire Musser, executive director, Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. "This delay isn’t just a missed opportunity, it’s a betrayal of public trust and of Asha’s own wild instincts. If we are to restore wolves in a way that honors their agency and intelligence, we must act now and let this family live freely, as they were born to do.”

“Every wolf deserves to be wild,” said Regan Downey, director of education and advocacy at the Wolf Conservation Center. “The release of the Caldera Pack would signify a commitment to creating a world where Mexican gray wolves truly thrive. Let Asha continue to be a leader for her endangered species.”

Asha’s pups would materially improve the genetic health of the wild population, which becomes harder to diversify the larger the population grows on the landscape. That’s because the larger population anticipated in the future would require proportionately more releases to gain the same percentage of genes underrepresented in the wild which are available among captive wolves.

“The livelihood and wellbeing of the Caldera Pack should be at the forefront of the need to release these wolves onto the landscape,” said Nico Lorenzen, Wild Arizona. “These wolves also represent a great opportunity to increase the genetic diversity, and therefore the long term health, of the Mexican gray wolf population. The longer it takes to introduce underrepresented genes from the captive population into the wild, the more difficult, costly and risky it will become, especially with an increasing wolf population. Releasing Asha, Arcadia and their pups promptly would indicate that the managing agencies take their commitment to saving these wolves, restoring our landscapes and using the best scientific principles for the public good seriously.”

“With the Caldera Pack release now apparently on hold and certainly delayed, we are troubled that wolf recovery may be being stymied for political reasons,” said Erin Hunt, managing director of Lobos of the Southwest. “Implementation of the Endangered Species Act is required by the statute to be based exclusively on the best science, not political influence.”

“It’s hard for me to think of any scientific reason why Asha and her genetically vital family haven’t been released yet, and I fear that’s because indefinitely delaying their release was a political decision,” said Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Asha and her family deserve their freedom, their fellow Mexican wolves in the wild deserve their lifesaving genes and the American people deserve agencies that follow the science and the law, not the livestock industry’s lobbyists.”

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PRESS RELEASE: Bill Would Remove Federal Protections From Endangered Mexican Gray Wolves

For Immediate Release, July 1, 2025

Contacts:

Michael Robinson, Center for Biological Diversity, (575) 313-7017, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Greta Anderson, Western Watersheds Project, (520) 623-1878, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Regan Downey, Wolf Conservation Center, (914) 763-2373, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Erin Hunt, Lobos of the Southwest, (928) 421-0187, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Leia Barnett, WildEarth Guardians, (970) 406-2125, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Claire Musser, Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, (928) 202-1325, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club - Grand Canyon Chapter, (602) 999-5790, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Nico Lorenzen, Wild Arizona, (520) 289-0147, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Michelle Lute, Wildlife for All, (505) 552-2501, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Bill Would Remove Federal Protections From Endangered Mexican Gray Wolves

TUCSON, Ariz.— U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) introduced legislation this week to remove the Mexican gray wolf from the endangered species list, which would effectively end recovery efforts for this unique, highly imperiled subspecies.

Removing Endangered Species Act protections from Mexican wolves would stop releases of wolves from captivity to diversify the gene pool of wild wolves, end federal investigations into possible wolf predation on livestock, reduce federal funding that supports compensation for livestock losses, shut down monitoring of the wolves and remove federal prohibitions on killing them.

“Bypassing the Endangered Species Act to strip all protections from beleaguered Mexican gray wolves and leave them vulnerable to Arizona’s shoot-on-sight laws would cause a massacre,” said Michael Robinson, senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Southwest’s ecology would suffer, and we’d be left with a sadder, drabber landscape if Gosar and the livestock industry’s cruel vision for wolf extermination becomes law.”

Less than two and a half years after passage of the Endangered Species Act, the Mexican gray wolf was federally protected as endangered in April 1976. Seven of the last remaining Mexican wolves were captured and a breeding program kept the species from extinction. Wolves were reintroduced to Arizona and New Mexico in 1998, and in Mexico in 2011. Since then, their U.S. numbers have increased to 286 animals, but they remain imperiled due to dangerously low genetic diversity.

“Representative Gosar is recklessly out of touch with the science that supports carnivore recovery, and is simply pandering to the anti-wolf livestock industry’s desire to dominate public lands and control nature,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project. “Decisions under the Endangered Species Act are supposed to be based on science, not the whims of Congress.”

The Endangered Species Act requires animals and plants to be protected if they are in danger of extinction due to habitat destruction, killings, inadequate regulations or other natural or human threats. Gosar’s bill is an attempt to circumvent the legal, science-based management of Mexican wolves. Species can be removed from the list if they are no longer in danger of extinction. Mexican wolves are nowhere close to meeting the delisting threshold.

“The Wolf Conservation Center is one of many partners in the Saving Animals From Extinction (SAFE) Program for Mexican wolves, a captive breeding and release effort focused on recovering wild, genetically robust populations,” said Regan Downey, director of education and advocacy at the Wolf Conservation Center. “We’ve worked tirelessly for decades to support thriving populations of Mexican wolves and refuse to be undermined by politicians who prioritize private industry over endangered wildlife.”

There would be no legal or regulatory limits on wolf killings in Arizona if the Mexican wolf were to be removed from the federal endangered list. Wolf killing in New Mexico would likely also increase. With a relatively small population size, a constricted range, a limited gene pool and an absence of protective rules in Arizona, any congressional delisting of the Mexican gray wolf would likely result in unrecoverable losses.

“We cannot allow disinformation and myth to guide decision making when it comes to protecting our irreplaceable wildlife and wild places,” said Erin Hunt, managing director of Lobos of the Southwest. “The Endangered Species Act is a proven success. For the past three decades, 84% of people have consistently supported the Act and the protection it provides to species in peril, with no evidence of lower support among people living in rural areas. Mexican wolves would be extinct if it weren’t for Endangered Species Act protection. Despite the false claims of a few, there are many people living in wolf country who want to see lobos restored and thriving on the landscapes where they belong.”

Livestock owners have benefited from Endangered Species Act protection for Mexican wolves, too. They are reimbursed with federal funds when there has been conflict between livestock and wolves.

“Without strong protections from the Endangered Species Act, Mexican gray wolves will once again be at risk from being eliminated from Arizona. That is just not a risk we should be taking with these highly endangered wolves,” said Sandy Bahr, director of Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon chapter. “Rep. Gosar is once again demonstrating both his ignorance and his arrogance, as well as his total lack of concern for the creatures we share this Earth with, by pushing forward with this legislation.”

“Lobos have been an integral and irreplaceable part of the landscapes of the Southwest for millennia. They add a demonstrated ecological benefit, hold important cultural significance, and have captured the hearts and minds of New Mexicans and many others across the nation and the world,” said Leia Barnett, Greater Gila New Mexico advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “We cannot afford to entertain these ill-informed, industry-driven attacks on our bedrock environmental laws that protect these iconic species and their habitat.”

“I have seen that coexistence with wolves is possible when communities have access to practical, nonlethal tools and support. But this bill would strip away the protections that make that kind of progress achievable,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “It ignores science, disregards the fragile status of Mexican gray wolves, and risks unraveling decades of careful recovery work.”

“The Mexican gray wolf has lived on the landscape of the American Southwest and Mexico for millions of years, long before either nation-state came into existence. Lobos had robust populations and a preeminent role in maintaining ecosystems keeping them safe from disease and unmitigated herbivory,” said Nico Lorenzen of Wild Arizona. “Rep. Gosar paints the current state of wolf conservation in misleading nationalist broad strokes that ignore robust science and how much the majority of Americans value our wild heritage. His unwillingness to understand the complex facts on the ground in favor of particular interest groups is a shortsighted attempt to harm a species that is still very much in need of recovery.”

“This bill is a cynical ploy to appease special interests at the expense of the democratic process, public trust and the survival of one of North America’s most endangered mammals,” said Michelle Lute, Ph.D. in wolf conservation and executive director of Wildlife for All. “Stripping protections from Mexican gray wolves would empower local anti-wolf factions to increase their extermination efforts and make a mockery of the Endangered Species Act. Wildlife belong to all of us — not just the politicians and industries trying to sell our public lands and wildlife to the highest bidder. We need more democracy in wildlife management, not less.”

Since its passage in 1973, the Endangered Species Act has successfully prevented the extinction of more than 99% of the animals and plants placed on the endangered and threatened species lists.

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