Contact: Michelle Lute, media@wildlifeforall.us
For Immediate Release, July 1, 2025
Mexican gray wolf photo available for media use with appropriate credit: Jim Clark/USFWS. Image is available for media use.
TUCSON, Ariz.— U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) introduced legislation this week to remove the Mexican gray wolf from the endangered species list, which would effectively end recovery efforts for this unique, highly imperiled subspecies.
Removing Endangered Species Act protections from Mexican wolves would stop releases of wolves from captivity to diversify the gene pool of wild wolves, end federal investigations into possible wolf predation on livestock, reduce federal funding that supports compensation for livestock losses, shut down monitoring of the wolves and remove federal prohibitions on killing them.
“Bypassing the Endangered Species Act to strip all protections from beleaguered Mexican gray wolves and leave them vulnerable to Arizona’s shoot-on-sight laws would cause a massacre,” said Michael Robinson, senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Southwest’s ecology would suffer, and we’d be left with a sadder, drabber landscape if Gosar and the livestock industry’s cruel vision for wolf extermination becomes law.”
Less than two and a half years after passage of the Endangered Species Act, the Mexican gray wolf was federally protected as endangered in April 1976. Seven of the last remaining Mexican wolves were captured and a breeding program kept the species from extinction. Wolves were reintroduced to Arizona and New Mexico in 1998, and in Mexico in 2011. Since then, their U.S. numbers have increased to 286 animals, but they remain imperiled due to dangerously low genetic diversity.
“Representative Gosar is recklessly out of touch with the science that supports carnivore recovery, and is simply pandering to the anti-wolf livestock industry’s desire to dominate public lands and control nature,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project. “Decisions under the Endangered Species Act are supposed to be based on science, not the whims of Congress.”
The Endangered Species Act requires animals and plants to be protected if they are in danger of extinction due to habitat destruction, killings, inadequate regulations or other natural or human threats. Gosar’s bill is an attempt to circumvent the legal, science-based management of Mexican wolves. Species can be removed from the list if they are no longer in danger of extinction. Mexican wolves are nowhere close to meeting the delisting threshold.
“The Wolf Conservation Center is one of many partners in the Saving Animals From Extinction (SAFE) Program for Mexican wolves, a captive breeding and release effort focused on recovering wild, genetically robust populations,” said Regan Downey, director of education and advocacy at the Wolf Conservation Center. “We’ve worked tirelessly for decades to support thriving populations of Mexican wolves and refuse to be undermined by politicians who prioritize private industry over endangered wildlife.”
There would be no legal or regulatory limits on wolf killings in Arizona if the Mexican wolf were to be removed from the federal endangered list. Wolf killing in New Mexico would likely also increase. With a relatively small population size, a constricted range, a limited gene pool and an absence of protective rules in Arizona, any congressional delisting of the Mexican gray wolf would likely result in unrecoverable losses.
“We cannot allow disinformation and myth to guide decision making when it comes to protecting our irreplaceable wildlife and wild places,” said Erin Hunt, managing director of Lobos of the Southwest. “The Endangered Species Act is a proven success. For the past three decades, 84% of people have consistently supported the Act and the protection it provides to species in peril, with no evidence of lower support among people living in rural areas. Mexican wolves would be extinct if it weren’t for Endangered Species Act protection. Despite the false claims of a few, there are many people living in wolf country who want to see lobos restored and thriving on the landscapes where they belong.”
Livestock owners have benefited from Endangered Species Act protection for Mexican wolves, too. They are reimbursed with federal funds when there has been conflict between livestock and wolves.
“Without strong protections from the Endangered Species Act, Mexican gray wolves will once again be at risk from being eliminated from Arizona. That is just not a risk we should be taking with these highly endangered wolves,” said Sandy Bahr, director of Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon chapter. “Rep. Gosar is once again demonstrating both his ignorance and his arrogance, as well as his total lack of concern for the creatures we share this Earth with, by pushing forward with this legislation.”
“Lobos have been an integral and irreplaceable part of the landscapes of the Southwest for millennia. They add a demonstrated ecological benefit, hold important cultural significance, and have captured the hearts and minds of New Mexicans and many others across the nation and the world,” said Leia Barnett, Greater Gila New Mexico advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “We cannot afford to entertain these ill-informed, industry-driven attacks on our bedrock environmental laws that protect these iconic species and their habitat.”
“I have seen that coexistence with wolves is possible when communities have access to practical, nonlethal tools and support. But this bill would strip away the protections that make that kind of progress achievable,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “It ignores science, disregards the fragile status of Mexican gray wolves, and risks unraveling decades of careful recovery work.”
“The Mexican gray wolf has lived on the landscape of the American Southwest and Mexico for millions of years, long before either nation-state came into existence. Lobos had robust populations and a preeminent role in maintaining ecosystems keeping them safe from disease and unmitigated herbivory,” said Nico Lorenzen of Wild Arizona. “Rep. Gosar paints the current state of wolf conservation in misleading nationalist broad strokes that ignore robust science and how much the majority of Americans value our wild heritage. His unwillingness to understand the complex facts on the ground in favor of particular interest groups is a shortsighted attempt to harm a species that is still very much in need of recovery.”
“This bill is a cynical ploy to appease special interests at the expense of the democratic process, public trust and the survival of one of North America’s most endangered mammals,” said Michelle Lute, Ph.D. in wolf conservation and executive director of Wildlife for All. “Stripping protections from Mexican gray wolves would empower local anti-wolf factions to increase their extermination efforts and make a mockery of the Endangered Species Act. Wildlife belong to all of us — not just the politicians and industries trying to sell our public lands and wildlife to the highest bidder. We need more democracy in wildlife management, not less.”
Since its passage in 1973, the Endangered Species Act has successfully prevented the extinction of more than 99% of the animals and plants placed on the endangered and threatened species lists.
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About Wildlife for All – Wildlife for All is a national organization dedicated to reforming wildlife management to be more democratic, just, compassionate and focused on protecting wild species and ecosystems. Through research, advocacy, and education, we aim to protect wildlife and ensure that policies reflect the values of all Americans.
