Another Mexican gray wolf is captured, released after she strays north of I-40 in Arizona

Another Mexican gray wolf has strayed from the designated recovery area for the endangered species, according to wildlife agencies.

A female wolf, known as Mexican wolf F2979, was captured by USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services last week northwest of Flagstaff. After performing a health check and giving the wolf a radio collar to track her movements, wolf managers released the animal back into the wild.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service created the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area to reintroduce wolves to the wild in the 1990s. It spans portions of Arizona and New Mexico south of Interstate 40 in what agencies say is the wolves’ historic range.

The boundary is contentious among wildlife advocates, but wolf managers defend the borders of the recovery area.

Federal and state wildlife agencies will monitor the wolf’s movements over the next few weeks, hoping she will lead them to another wolf seen in the area.

“This pair has been seen for a while, probably three weeks,” said Jim deVos, Mexican wolf coordinator for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. “To better understand what she’s up to and where she’s going, we put a collar on her, and we’d like to put a collar on presumably the male, but we don’t know.”

The agencies have received multiple reports from residents of wolf sightings over the last few weeks. Officials placed food caches and trail cameras to discover the wolf’s location. As they captured F2979, they heard another wolf howling in the distance, confirming at least one other animal in the area.

deVos said the agencies will monitor F2979 and follow recovery protocol.

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Other wolves have crossed the boundary

The agencies try to have two collared wolves in each pack, typically the alpha male and female.

If they can collar both wolves outside the experimental area and observe localization — when wolves set up a territory — or if they attack cattle, the agencies will consider relocating the wolves back to the experimental population area.

When outside the experimental population area, wolves are fully protected under the Endangered Species Act. This means ranchers and the public cannot haze, harass or harm wolves unless they threaten human safety.

Wolves have wandered from the recovery area previously. Anubis, M2520, crossed I-40 in 2021 and Asha, F2754, did the same twice in 2022 and 2023.

Anubis was shot and killed near Flagstaff in 2022. Officials defend enforcing the I-40 border because they can more easily protect wolves, communities and cattle.

People may not expect to see wolves outside of the reintroduction area, and managers say there is a higher chance they could be mistaken for coyotes and killed.

They captured Asha and placed her in captivity, saying it was unlikely she would find a mate that far north from the recovery area.

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Advocates say wolves should be allowed to roam

But now that two wolves, potentially male and female, have wandered into the same area near the Grand Canyon region, advocates question this reasoning.

“One of the reasons for (Asha’s) removal was there was not the prospect of her finding a mate where she was roaming,” said Chris Smith, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians. “But in this case, they’re literally using the female wolf as bait to capture the male wolf.”

“Less than a year later, we have a case where a wolf could be successfully mating, and she’s being yanked out of the wild, and they’re using her to yank her mate out of the wild,” he said.

Advocates want wolves to wander and disperse as they please and believe I-40 is an arbitrary boundary limiting wolves’ movement.

“That is exactly the type of dispersal that scientists have said lobos need in order to create multiple subpopulations and genetically diverse populations,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director for the Western Watersheds Project.

Wolves have low genetic diversity, and advocates believe setting up separate subpopulations — like the Grand Canyon ecoregion — will strengthen gene flow and create a backup if disease or wildfire decimates the current population in the experimental area.

Wildlife agencies will closely monitor F2979 and hope to capture and collar the second wolf.

“All of the discussions that we will have as agencies across the next couple of months is, what’s best for the wolf and what’s best for the recovery program,” deVos said. “What’s the best way for her to contribute to recovery?”

Hayleigh Evans covers environmental issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send tips or questions tohayleigh.evans@arizonarepublic.com.

Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

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