Environmentalists concerned after protected Mexican wolf dies in Arizona

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – A federally protected female Mexican wolf was found dead in an area near the northern Arizona city of Flagstaff, alarming environmentalists who worry someone may have deliberately killed the animal.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department announced in a joint statement Friday that the animal known to biologists as Mexican wolf F2979 was found dead on Nov. 7. It was located outside the boundary established along the Arizona-New Mexico border. for the management of the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America.

Officials did not release the cause of death other than to say it was “unrelated to actions by agency management.” Up to $103,500 in reward money from state and federal agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations and private individuals, had been pledged for information “leading to a successful prosecution in the case,” they said.

If someone killed the wolf intentionally, “the full weight of federal and state law should be brought to bear” against anyone responsible, Cyndi Tuell, director of the Western Watersheds Project in Arizona and New Mexico, said in a statement.

Mexican gray wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Killing a Mexican wolf can result in criminal penalties of up to $50,000, and/or up to a year in prison, confiscation of firearms, vehicles and buildings involved in the crime, along with a possible civil fine of up to $25,000.

The state and federal agencies said in the joint news release that the female wolf was first documented outside the federally designated “Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area,” located north of Interstate 40 near Flagstaff in early summer 2024.

The animal was captured, fitted with a GPS collar and released into the wild in July. DNA analysis revealed that the female had left her pack, known as the Tu Dil Hil pack, in the designated population area and was traveling alone with another wolf.

Attempts were made to capture the pair and return them to the area. The whereabouts of the other wolf are unknown.

Federal regulations require the Fish and Wildlife Service to remove all Mexican wolves roaming north of Interstate 40, even in cases where the animal is not causing discomfort or loss. Ranchers in New Mexico and Arizona, who have long complained that wolves are responsible for dozens of livestock deaths each year, are concerned about a possible expansion of the animals’ range.

Mexican gray wolves were first reintroduced to the southwestern U.S. a quarter century ago. After a slow start, their numbers have grown in recent years to more than 250 in Arizona and New Mexico.