Mexican Wolf

Canis lupus baileyi

The Mexican wolf, one of the most endangered wolves in the world, once roamed the southwest United States and Mexico by the thousands. Compared to wolves in Montana, Alaska, and Canada, Mexican gray wolves are smaller and less gray in color. Zoos like the El Paso Zoo are playing a major role in saving them from extinction. Since 1998, zoo born wolves were used to reintroduce the species to the wild in Arizona, New Mexico and Sonora, Mexico.

Fun Facts

• There was a rapid reduction of Mexican wolf populations in the Southwestern U.S. from 1915-1920. By the mid-1920s, livestock losses to Mexican wolves became rare in areas where the costs once ranged in the millions of dollars.
• The Mexican wolf is the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America.
• In 1977, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiated efforts to conserve the species.
• Mexican gray wolves are the smallest of the Gray wolf subspecies, being around half the size of North American gray wolves.