By Susan Morée, NM Political Report
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a recently released 5-year evaluation of the Mexican gray wolf that the endangered species is making progress toward recovery.
Fish and Wildlife named the Mexican gray wolf an endangered species in the 1970s. The 5-year evaluation says that as of 2023, there are at least 20 different litters fostered by wolves.
In 2017, the Mexican gray wolf population in the U.S. wild consisted of 117 wolves. But as of 2023, the population had reached 257 wolves. The agency’s evaluation says the population has more than doubled since a 2017 recovery plan was implemented.
Conservation groups are concerned that the report glosses over problems with the recovery and that Fish and Wildlife has downplayed high mortality rates and a lack of releases in Mexico. They say pup mortality in the U.S. is higher than expected and the mortality rate for pups in Mexico couldn’t be calculated because too few had radio collars. One conservation group called the evaluation”lipstick on a pig.”