U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Wolf Recovery in North America
Photo by Gary Kramer/USFWS
Before the arrival of European settlers,
wolves ranged widely across the
continent, from coast to coast and from
Canada to Mexico. Two species are
found in North America, the gray wolf,
with its various subspecies, and the
red wolf, found in the southeastern
United States.
Wolves play an important role as
predators in the ecosystems they
inhabit. They feed primarily on large
mammals, such as deer and elk,
removing sick and injured animals
from the populations. Wolves are highly
social, living in packs and hunting
and raising young cooperatively.
As the country was settled, native prey
species declined and the number of
domestic animals increased. As wolves
increasingly turned to livestock for
prey, government agencies and private
citizens undertook large-scale predator
control programs, with wolves
hunted nearly to extinction.
By the middle of the 20th century, few
wolves existed in the lower 48 States.
Only several hundred gray wolves in
Minnesota and an isolated population
on Michigan’s Isle Royale remained,
along with an occasional Mexican
wolf— and reports of a few red wolves.
Thanks to recovery programs and to
the natural migration from Canada
into Montana, more than 5000 gray
wolves now live in the lower 48 States.
Under the Endangered Species Act
gray wolf populations in the northern
Rocky Mountains are listed either as
endangered or as “nonessential,
experimental.” Mexican gray wolves
are also “nonessential, experimental,”
a designation that provides
management flexibility.
Partners such as State wildlife
agencies, universities, and conservation
organizations have developed recovery
plans in various parts of the country,
with the goal of restoring the species
to a secure status in the wild as a
functioning member of its ecosystem.
Recovery enables the U. S. Fish and
Wildlife Service to “delist” species so
that they are no longer endangered
or threatened—and to return their
management to States and Tribes.
Recovery plans identify the population
levels and distribution necessary for
a species to be considered recovered.
When a species reaches recovery
criteria, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service reviews the population status
to determine whether reclassification
or delisting is appropriate. Recovery
criteria differ among populations
depending on the threats to the species,
the connectivity of the populations,
and local ecological circumstances.
At the time of its listing under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973, the
gray wolf in the eastern part of the
United States had been eliminated
from the landscape, except in northern
Minnesota and on Isle Royale,
Michigan. Protection under the Act
has allowed the Minnesota population
to grow, and now about 2,922 wolves
live there. In addition, wolves returned
to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and
Wisconsin. About 1,057 animals live
there.
Because these States achieved
recovery goals outlined in the Eastern
Timber Wolf Recovery Plan, the U. S.
Fish and Wildlife Service has removed
the western Great Lakes population
of gray wolves from the protection of
the Endangered Species Act. States
and Tribes now manage wolves in
the region.
Wolves in the Rocky Mountains
Probably the best-known wolf recovery
effort was the reintroduction of wolves
into Yellowstone National Park and
central Idaho in 1995 and 1996. After
an absence of more than 50 years, the
Service brought wild gray wolves
from Canada to the Park and to the
Frank Church River of No Return
Wilderness Area in Idaho. The goal
was to speed up recovery in the
Rocky Mountain region and restore
a species to the historic range from
which it had been eliminated in the
late 1920s.
Recovery partners released wolves
as family groups in Yellowstone and
individually in central Idaho. The
program has been extremely
successful. Wolves in both areas
have formed packs and reproduced.
Now Montana is home to about 497
wolves. About 846 wolves live in
Idaho, and about 302 in Wyoming.
The reintroduction program has been
so successful that the wolf population
in the northern Rocky Mountains has
exceeded recovery goals every year
since 2002. Also, the states of Montana
and Idaho have made commitments
to maintain wolf populations well
above minimum recovery levels.
Therefore, the Service identified a
northern Rocky Mountain wolf
Distinct Population Segment that
includes all of Montana, Idaho, and
Wyoming, the eastern third of
Washington and Oregon, and a small
corner of north-central Utah. This
wolf population was removed from
the protection of the Endangered
Species Act, except in Wyoming.
Mexican Gray Wolves
Mexican gray wolves, called
Mexican wolves or lobos, were once
common through western Texas,
southern New Mexico, central
Arizona, and northern Mexico. By
the early 1900s, growing numbers, of
livestock in the region and fewer
natural prey species resulted in
increasing numbers of livestock
losses. Intensive control efforts
were largely responsible for
eradicating Mexican wolves by the
middle of this century. The last
confirmed wild Mexican wolf was
reported in the United States in 1970
and in Mexico in 1980.
Mexican wolves were listed as
endangered in 1976, and a joint
recovery effort with Mexico began.
Using animals captured in Mexico in
1977, recovery partners established
a captive breeding population. These
animals are the foundation of the
recovery effort. Wolves that are
candidates for reintroduction
undergo a “pre-acclimation” period
at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge
in New Mexico and other remote
facilities. This practice helps foster
behavior and characteristics that
enhance their ability to survive in
the wild.
In 1998, the Fish and Wildlife
Service released 13 captive-reared
Mexican wolves in eastern Arizona.
Two years later, the first Mexican
wolf pup was conceived and born in
the wild! Additional releases from
progeny of the 300 wolves in
captivity are planned to reach the
goal of a wild population of 100
animals.
Wolves in Alaska and Canada
Gray wolves in Alaska and Canada
have never reached the point that
protection under the Endangered
Species Act is necessary. In Alaska,
the State manages wolves—about
7,700 to 11,200 animals. Similarly,
provincial governments manage
Canada’s 50,000-60,000 wolves. The
species is not considered
endangered or threatened.
Red Wolves
Red wolves once ranged throughout
the southeastern United States up
the eastern seaboard towards New
England. As with gray wolves,
concern about conflict between red
wolves and human activities resulted
in eradication efforts. As red wolf
numbers declined, the remaining
animals in the wild were removed to
zoos and other facilities to save the
species. By 1980, the red wolf
existed only in captivity, with a
founder population of 14 animals!
Captive breeding efforts are proving
to be successful. Reintroduction is
continuing at Alligator River
National Wildlife Refuge in North
Carolina. Red wolves have returned
to the wild.
In northeastern North Carolina
about 100 red wolves comprise 20
packs the wild. Captive breeding
efforts at nearly 40 facilities
throughout the United States have
about 170 wolves. The captive
rearing program is vital to
maximizing the genetic diversity of
the species and provides animals for
occasional release into the wild.
Recovery goals are 550 red wolves,
including at least 220 in the wild.
Number of Gray Wolves in the
Continental United States in 2008
Western Great Lakes States
Michigan 520*
Minnesota 2,922
Wisconsin 537
*not including Isle Royale’s 23 wolves
Western States
Wyoming 302
Montana 497
Idaho 846
Arizona/New Mexico 52
(Mexican Wolf)
For more information about the
status of wolves, contact one of the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
offices listed below or the Service’s
homepage at www.fws.gov.
Midwestern Region
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1 Federal Drive
Ft. Snelling, Minnesota 55111
Rocky Mountain Region
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
585 Shepard Way,
Helena, Montana 59601
Mexican Wolves
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
P.O. Box 1306
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103
Red Wolf Recovery Program
c/o Alligator River National
Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
708 North Highway 64
Manteo, North Carolina 27954
April 2009
