Mexican Wolf - Canis lupus baileyi - Facts

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Mexican wolves are the smallest subspecies of North American gray wolves. They are also the most endangered. Commonly referred to as "El lobo," the Mexican wolf is gray with light brown fur on its back. Its long legs and sleek body enable it to run fast.

Fast Facts

Height: 26-32 inches at the shoulder.
Length: 4.5-5.5 feet from nose to tip of tail.
Weight: 60-80 lbs; Males are typically heavier and taller than the females.
Lifespan: Up to 15 years in captivity.

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Diet

Mexican wolves mostly eat ungulates
(large hoofed mammals) like white-tailed deer, mule deer and elk.
They are also known to eat smaller mammals like javelinas (wild pigs), rabbits, ground squirrels and mice.

Population

Did You Know?

Lobo means wolf in Spanish.

Once extirpated from the southwestern United States, 34 wolves returned to southeastern Arizona following a reintroduction program begun in March, 1998. There are only about 200 Mexican wolves in captivity. The goal of the reintroduction program was to restore at least 100 wolves to the wild by 2008; unfortunately, at the end of 2008 there were only approximately 50.

Range

Mexican wolves once ranged from central Mexico to southwestern Texas, southern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. Today, the Mexican wolf has been reintroduced to the Apache National Forest in southeastern Arizona and may move into the adjacent Gila National Forest in western New Mexico as the population expands. See a Mexican wolf range map >>

Behavior

Mexican wolves prefer to live in mountain forests, grasslands and shrublands, and are very social animals. They live in packs, which are complex social structures that include the breeding adult pair (the alpha male and female) and their offspring. A hierarchy of dominant and subordinate animals within the pack help it to work as a unit.

Reproduction
Mating Season: Mid February-mid March.
Gestation: 63 days.
Litter size: 4-7 pups.
Pups are born blind and defenseless. The pack cares for the pups until they mature at about 10 months of age.

Threats

Defenders at Work

Efforts to avoid conflicts with livestock gained some momentum last year with landowners in Arizona and New Mexico joining Defenders of Wildlife in helping to keep livestock and wolves apart. In 2008, Defenders of Wildlife helped six landowners implement projects to reduce conflicts between livestock and wolves, including installing fencing outfitted with fladry (red streamers attached to fences) and employing additional range riders to help keep wolves away from livestock. Learn more about Defenders of Wildlife's work to ensure recovery of the lobo >>

Humans and habitat destruction pose the greatest threat to Mexican wolves.

Defenders of Wildlife has been a leader in wolf conservation since wolves first appeared on the federal endangered species list.

Reasons For Hope

The Mexican gray wolf, has returned to some of its former haunts in the American Southwest. The Mexican wolf reintroduction project began in 1998, and the wolves have been doing their part ever since – forming packs, killing elk, finding mates and raising pups.

The overall number of endangered Mexican wolves roaming the Blue Range Wolf Reintroduction Area held steady in 2008 after losing numbers in 3 of the last 4 years, but the number of breeding pairs dropped from four to two.

It is a story of both success and frustration. The wolves are back, but they are struggling.