WASHINGTON, D.C. — This month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued its third-quarter update on the Mexican wolf population in Arizona and New Mexico.
According to the end-of-year count for 2022, there are 242 Mexican wolves in the region, with 137 in New Mexico and 105 in Arizona. That’s a 23 percent increase over the number of wolves in 2021.
During the last winter count, there were 40 wolf packs in New Mexico and 19 in Arizona.
There were nine Mexican wolf mortalities during the third quarter of this year, with two suspected to be illegal takes. That brings the total number of wolf mortalities thus far this year to 21. That’s up from 2022’s total of 12, and trending higher than 2021 (25) with one quarter remaining.
The greatest number of mortalities was in 2020 with 29, while the lowest was 2017 with 12.
The recent 5-Year Status Review recommended no change in status for the Mexican wolf, keeping its classification as “endangered wherever found, except where included in an experimental population.”
