A five-year evaluation of the binational Mexican gray wolf recovery program reveals a stark contrast between the recovery programs in the United States and Mexico. Federal officials lauded the U.S. program for surpassing recovery goals, but wolf advocacy groups are decrying the report for downplaying the status of wolves in Mexico.
The five-year evaluation, released last month by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is an assessment of the government’s progress towards the goals outlined in a 2017 revision of the Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan. The program seeks to establish two resilient populations of the endangered wolves, one in the southwestern United States and one in Mexico.
Between 2017 and 2022, state and federal agencies in Arizona and New Mexico managing the U.S. program surpassed targeted population and release goals.
“This progress report shows we are ahead of where we anticipated being in achieving our recovery goals in the United States for Mexican wolves,” said Brady McGee, Mexican Wolf recovery coordinator for U.S. Fish and Wildlife in a news release. “Since its inception, this program has strived to adjust and adapt our efforts to maximize success for recovery of this subspecies. This evaluation is evidence that what we are doing is working and provides a chance to reflect and shift as needed.”