This blog presents a recent op-ed in the Santa Fe New Mexican that explores the future of wolf reintroduction for Mexican gray wolves.
The Mexican gray wolf, or the lobo, is the subject of much political theater here in New Mexico, and I believe The Santa Fe New Mexican has fanned the flames of controversy with its article (“Ranchers feeling hunted,” Sept. 28). The online headline lays it out: “Vandalism and threats: A New Mexico county is at the forefront of the West’s wolf reintroduction debate.”
The article contains accusations of vandalism and threats against environmentalists but fails to mention any of the menacing acts being targeted at community environmentalists. It is unfortunate to see Catron County used as a political pawn to reverse what is otherwise a great American wildlife recovery story.
Mexican gray wolves once numbered in the thousands throughout the Southwestern United States but were wiped out by the mid-1970s. They were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1976, and in 1998, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released 11 Mexican gray wolves back into the wild in Arizona, kick-starting their recovery.
Their numbers have grown slowly since reintroduction, but lobos remain the most endangered subspecies of gray wolf in the world. Today, there are only around 286 wild Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico, occupying a fraction of their historic range.
Lobos have not yet met recommended recovery goals and still require full protection as an endangered species.
More than 70% of documented Mexican gray wolf deaths are human-caused. Illegal killing is the leading cause of death for lobos, with at least 105 known to have been unlawfully killed between 1998 and 2019. A similar number of radio-collared wolves disappeared, many under suspicious circumstances, during this same span.
Wolf predation on livestock is rare — cattle are more likely to die from a lightning strike than a wolf attack.
Human tolerance of wolves is limited, however, so Mexican gray wolf recovery success will be determined by our effectiveness at preventing wolf-livestock conflicts.
To ensure people and lobos can co-exist, we must respectfully address and de-escalate conflicts, incentivize conservation, build trusting relationships and demystify wolves.
Since reintroduction to the American Southwest, Defenders of Wildlife and partners have worked with ranchers to fund and implement tools and techniques that reduce conflict, and to develop effective ways to address losses when they occur.
The federal government, state government and private partners financially support ranchers after livestock losses. New Mexico also provides compensation for some costs associated with Mexican wolf coexistence. By some estimates, subsidies available to ranchers for doing business in Mexican wolf country totaled at least $11 million between 2023 and 2025.
Range-riders, fladry fencing, carcass removal, diversionary feeding, livestock guardian dogs, conflict-prevention training — there are many effective options for preventing wolf-livestock conflict. There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to coexistence, so different methods may be deployed after evaluating ranchers’ individual circumstances.
In New Mexico, many livestock producers graze cattle on public lands, which are managed for multiple uses to serve the broad public interest. When operating on these lands, ranchers have a responsibility to do so in ways that avoid harming wildlife, waters and other resources such as recreation.
Ranching in the Southwest is not easy, and the presence of lobos is an additional element to navigating the business, but there are practical solutions that can be utilized without resorting to vandalism and threats — which serve no purpose other than to disrupt.
Removing federal protections for the Mexican gray wolf and reversing its recovery in the Southwest is ill advised. Doing so jeopardizes the hard-won progress made by ranchers and conservationists finding a mutual and respectful way forward.
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