<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3xowz1_0wHpBLM100" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3xowz1_0wHpBLM100" width="285" height="228" >Written By: Aimee TurcotteGray Wolves (Canis lupus) are a part of the family Canidae, which is composed of animals that are “dog-like” [1.]. There are five main subspecies of Gray Wolves: Arctic, Great Plains, Eastern Timber, Northwestern Gray, and Mexican. There are many similarities and differences between these five subspecies.​There are Mexican Gray Wolves at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo. Mexican Wolves are a species at the zoo protected under the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s Species Survival Plan (SSP). The SSP is a “binational captive breeding program between the United States and Mexico for the Mexican Wolf. The SSP mission is to reestablish the Mexican Wolf in the wild through captive breeding, public education, and research” [8.]. Mexican Gray Wolves are the smallest and rarest subspecies of Gray Wolves that live in North America [1.]. These wolves are approximately 4 to 5 feet long and 2 to 3 feet tall [2.]. Mexican Gray Wolves can weigh 60 to 90 pounds. When comparing their size to a domestic dog, they are roughly the size of an adult German Shepherd [2.]. Occasionally, Mexican Wolves are called ‘El lobo’ because of their light brown and gray mottled fur, which allows them to camouflage in mountain forests and grasslands [4.]. The forest habitats of these wolves range from northern Mexico, Arizona, and New Mexico [2.]. Mexican Wolves are carnivores typically seen wandering around their territory searching for prey such as small mammals like rabbits [2.]. Unfortunately, in the 20th century, there was a population decrease of deer, elk, and livestock in forests, leading people to believe that wolves were eating these animals [3.]. The government decided to eradicate Mexican Wolves through trapping and poisoning campaigns, which caused these animals to become endangered by the early 1970s [3.]. In 1997, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was permitted by the government to capture the last few Mexican Wolves and breed them in hopes of reintroducing them to their natural environments while increasing their population to prevent extinction [4.][1.]https://www.wolfquest.org/wolfopedia/Wolves/Gray-Wolf subspecies#:~:text=For%20many%20years,%20most%20thought%20there%20were%2032%20subspecies%20of [2.]https://www.beardsleyzoo.org/mexican-wolf.html#:~:text=The%20Mexican%20Wolf%20is%204%20to%205%20feet%20long%20on [3.]https://www.fws.gov/program/conserving-mexican-wolf/species#:~:text=The%20Mexican%20wolf%20was%20common%20throughout%20its%20core,eradicate%20Mexican%20wolves%20in%20the%20southwestern%20United%20States [4.]https://www.fws.gov/story/2023-10/how-mexican-wolves-were-saved-extinction#:~:text=At%20their%20apex,%20thousands%20of%20Mexican%20wolves%20(aka%20%E2%80%9Clobos%E2%80%9D) [5.]https://animalia.bio/arctic-wolf#:~:text=The%20Arctic%20wolf%20(Canis%20lupus%20arctos)%20is%20a%20sub-species%20of [6.] https://animalia.bio/northwestern-wolf [7.] https://animalia.bio/red-wolf [8.] https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Mexican-Wolf-2022-Progress-Report-Final.pdf</div></body>

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Learn About Gray Wolves for National Wolf Awareness Week

Gray Wolves (Canis lupus) are a part of the family Canidae, which is composed of animals that are “dog-like” [1.]. There are five main subspecies of Gray Wolves: Arctic, Great Plains, Eastern Timber, Northwestern Gray, and Mexican. There are many similarities and differences between these five subspecies. ​. There...