A captive Mexican wolf rests in the shade. Photo: Chris Clarke
One day in 1922, rancher Pauline Watson found something surprising on a trap line shed set for coyotes near her ranch in the Mojave Deserts New York Mountains. It wasnt a coyote. At 100 pounds, it was twice as heavy as the best-fed Mojave Desert coyotes. This animal was too big, too robust, covered in fluffy whitish fur with a darker widows peak, like an Alaskan husky.
It was the last wolf ever trapped in the Mojave Desert. Though Watsons daughter later said her mother had no desire to kill the wolf, it died on its way to a life of confinement as a planned zoo exhibit in Barstow.
For nearly a century, it was generally assumed that the wolf was a vagrant male from somewhere well to the north, a southern Rocky Mountain gray wolf. Recent genetic testing, though, indicates that it was more likely a Mexican wolf, a member of the most-endangered group of wolves in the world. If thats confirmed by further testing, itll raise a question: why not bring the Mexican wolf back to the Mojave Desert?
--
--
The Mexican wolf, Canis lupus baileyi, is North Americas smallest native wolf - and likely the oldest group of modern wolves to colonize the Americas. Until the end of the 19th century, the Mexican wolf - the original Lobo - ranged the pinyon-juniper forests of the Southwest, feeding primarily on the elk, deer, and bighorn sheep that thrived in the deserts so-called sky islands.
In the first years of the 20th Century, Lobo became the Southwests Public Enemy Number One. Thats because along with those big wild deer and bighorns, along with occasional smaller mammals, Mexican wolves found themselves in a landscape suddenly overflowing with domestic livestock: cattle and (imported, non-bighorn) sheep. Starting around 1915 in the U.S., and in the 1930s in Mexico, ranching interests conducted a campaign of all-out extermination against the Mexican wolf, with traps, guns, and poisons - including the notorious broad-spectrum bait poison, sodium fluoroacetate a.k.a. Compound 1080. Wolf hunters also located active dens, shot any local adults, then dug up the pups for killing through one unpleasant means or another.
The wolf eradication campaign, which was supported by scientists at the highest levels of federal land management agencies, was very nearly successful. By 1976, when the subspecies was listed as Endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, the wolves were gone from the three southwestern states that had made up the core of their northern range: Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. The U.S. and Mexican governments conceived a plan to capture every last remaining wild Mexican wolf in the world to form the base of a captive breeding program. By 1980, theyd found five: four males and a female.
By some measures, that breeding program has been a success. By 2014, there were at least 109 Mexican wolves living in the wild in New Mexico and Arizona; during that year, officials with the Mexican wildlife agency National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) announced a healthy litter of five pups had been born to wolves reintroduced to the Sierra Madre Occidental in late 2013.
But these wolves of the southwestern forests are by no means out of the woods. The breeding and reintroduction program has been met with intense opposition from the ranching industry and its supporters, and poaching is a serious problem in wolf territory in the United States. That poaching is likely fueled by a campaign of fear. Rumors running through rural communities of aggressive Mexican wolf-coyote hybrids, or of rampaging full-blooded Mexican wolves attacking people, driving at least one rural community to build chicken-coop-like wolf-proof bus shelters for local school kids. (There are no records of attacks by reintroduced Mexican wolves on humans; in fact, wolves that dont show fear of humans are ineligible for release under the program rules. And as far as biologists can tell, Mexican wolves are far more likely to kill and eat coyotes than to mate with them.)
Ironically, the livestock ranchers seek to protect are far more dangerous to people than Mexican wolves seem to be. Between 1993 and 2004, according to New Mexicos state government, 43 New Mexicans were killed by horses, nine by cattle and two by domestic sheep. Three were mauled to death by domestic dogs. Which means that Mexican wolves actually eat animals that pose real threats to humans, at least in New Mexico.
At any rate, despite the facts countering the overblown anti-wolf rhetoric, and the fact that Mexican wolves are responsible for a vanishingly small percentage of livestock losses where theyve been introduced, illegal shooting of reintroduced wolves and their progeny threatens to undo the wolves recovery.
Biologists and wildlife managers charged with taking care of a threatened, dwindling wildlife population will often hedge their bets by keeping their precious metaphorical eggs in several baskets. Mexican wolves whose recovery is currently being threatened by misunderstandings and social media-driven fear could definitely use another basket or two. They need someplace with the kind of desert conifer forest habitat they prefer, with abundant potential prey, in a place where theyre likely to be left alone.
Someplace like the 1.6 million-acre Mojave National Preserve, perhaps.
Captive Mexican wolf | Photo: Bob, some rights reserved
It was the killing of a Mexican wolf pack that gave rise to one of the most enduring passages in American environmental writing. Biologist Aldo Leopold, in the field in the mountains of New Mexico during the first decades of the 20th Century, didnt know the day would change him for good.
We were eating lunch on a high rimrock, at the foot of which a turbulent river elbowed its way. We saw what we thought was a doe fording the torrent, her breast a
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
22/10/2025
Over the past few months, a photovoltaic system has been installed on a three-he...
22/10/2025
The Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis II mission is stacked on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kenn...
22/10/2025
L3Harris' Hybrid SATCOM is resilient by design, offering path diversity that eliminates vulnerabilities by routing data across the best available networks i...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. Organizers of NAB Show New York said they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countries along with 260 exhibitor...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...
22/10/2025
Masque Sound, a leading theatrical sound reinforcement, installation and design company, supplied an extensive gear package of professional-grade equipment for ...
22/10/2025
Lightware, a global leader in signal management and AV connectivity solutions, is seeing strong market momentum for the UCX-3x3-TPX-RX20, a compact transmitter-...
22/10/2025
MELVILLE, N.Y. Chyron has released PAINT 10.2, the latest update for its telestration platform, adding support for SMPTE ST 2110 IP workflows, expanding brandin...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON Run3TV today said NBCUniversal is joining as an investor in the ATSC 3.0 Framework Authority, which develops the Run3TV NextGen TV application platfo...
22/10/2025
ATLANTA swXtch.io will feature two new networking solutions extending the company's reach across more cloud and on-prem workflows at NAB Show New York, set ...
22/10/2025
The Warner Bros. Discoverys HBO Max streaming services has increased prices for all its streaming tiers effectively immediately for new customers. Existing cust...
22/10/2025
LOS ANGELES OpenDrives has signed a new distribution partnership deal with Versatile Distribution Services (VDS) to strengthen its channel and streamline how it...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...
22/10/2025
Samora Pinderhughes Brings Immersive Sound to Berklee's Signature Series The artist and composer, who's worked with Herbie Hancock, Robert Glasper, Co...
22/10/2025
BMI Day at Berklee Celebrates Composer Fil Eisler and Awards Scholarship to Stud...
22/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF cooperate in drone defense Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF partner to deliver a comprehensive drone defense solution combining Rohde & S...
22/10/2025
European Broadcaster Upgrades To Grass Valley's NativeIP LDX 135 Cameras And...
22/10/2025
Everyone Gets a Better Deal on Verizon with New FOX One Perk The $15 FOX One streaming service perk is yet another way Verizon continues to add savings for cu...
22/10/2025
First Look Hidden Assets Series 3
Premieres on 9th November 9:30pm on RT One & RT Player
WATCH HERE Promo Link: Hidden Assets Series 3 | RT
The Crimin...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Although AES Show Is on Its Own, Audio Will Be a Major Part o...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Business of Broadcast and Media,' Future of Content'...
21/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Ethan Folz, Senior Director, Digital Operations and Quality of Ex...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: Livestream Offers Graphic Overlays, Predictive Gaming, Ancil...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: At the Front Bench With Producer Frank DiGraci and Director ...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: NBC Sports, NEP Build Ultra-Flexible Production Plan That Se...
21/10/2025
Indigenous storytelling has been at the heart of the work of the Sundance Instit...
21/10/2025
Top L-R: Mysterious Skin, American Dream Second Row L-R: Little Miss Sunshine, D...
21/10/2025
Last week, Spotify and Columbia Records transformed Pier 4 at the Brooklyn Army ...
21/10/2025
SBS Learn's Dharug Ngurra resource empowers classrooms to meaningfully celeb...
21/10/2025
As global operators simplify and evolve their digital platforms, NPS improvement...
21/10/2025
Critical Design Review completion is a key milestone on the path toward Wideband Global Satellite Communications certification for the network in 2026, opening ...
21/10/2025
New Australian undersea training range to implement and improve warfighting tactics, proficiency and safety; enable joint/allied training that contributes to pr...
21/10/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
21/10/2025
September, the beginning of autumn, brought an expected revival to the TV market, largely due to the new fall TV schedules. The time spent in front of the TV sc...
21/10/2025
Broadcast Booms with 20% Uptick vs. August, Achieving Largest Monthly
Increase ...
21/10/2025
During September, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico settled at 24.5%, a marginal shift of -0.5 share points from the previous month.
Disclaimer: YU...
21/10/2025
RENNES, France BBright and GlobalM have conducted a technical trial validating Ultra HD interoperability across the entire contribution chain in the cloud, achi...
21/10/2025
Kokusai Denki Electric America will mark the U.S. debut of a new 4K camera at the 2025 NAB New York, Oct. 22-23. Now available, the Z-HD6500-S1 UHD/HD productio...
21/10/2025
Triveni Digital, a trusted leader in ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 service delivery, data broadcasting, and quality assurance solutions, will showcase its entire NEXTGEN TV ...
21/10/2025
Radio Azzurra FM, longest-running radio station in the province of Novara, northwest Italy, has invested in an DHD SX2 audio routing and mixing console for inte...
21/10/2025
Globecast, the leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, has announced the appointment of G Morgan as Executive Vice President of...
21/10/2025
Visual Data announces the appointment of Maz Al-Jumaili as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Localization, to advance client engagement, strategic partnerships, ...
21/10/2025
As Amazon's Prime Video prepares to launch its coverage of NBA basketball under a major new deal, Grup Mediapro has announced that it is working with the st...
21/10/2025
ATLANTA Good news for consumers using an Atlanta DTH receiver to watch ATSC 3.0: with a new software update, they will be able to blanket their homes with Wi-Fi...
21/10/2025
While recent news has been heavily focused on Hispanic migration into the U.S., The 2025 Hispanic Market Report from Claritas highlights the fact that this gr...
21/10/2025
MAIDENHEAD, UK RWS has hired Michael Wayne as its head of media and entertainment in Los Angeles where he will lead the company's media localization busines...
21/10/2025
Imagine Communications and Rohde & Schwarz today announced a definitive agreement under which Imagine will acquire Pixel Power Limited, a wholly owned subsidiar...
21/10/2025
Atlanta DTH (ADTH) today announced a major update that will expand the functionality of its NEXTGEN TV receiver by enabling gateway capabilities allowing viewer...
A captive Mexican wolf rests in the shade. Photo: Chris Clarke 
