Mexican Wolves in the Wild
The Blue Range Wolf Reintroduction Project

Reintroduction of the Mexican gray wolf into the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area (BRWRA) of Arizona and New Mexico was initiated in March 1998. Mexican wolves released into the BRWRA and their offspring are designated as a nonessential experimental population which allows for greater management flexibility to address wolf conflict situations such as livestock depredations and nuisance behavior. The BRWRA is a defined geographic area that encompasses the entire Apache and Gila national forests and is divided into primary and secondary recovery zones. "Initial releases" (release of wolves born and raised in captivity) can only occur in Arizona in the primary recovery zone in Greenlee County. "Translocations" of experienced animals (previously released wolves or wolves born in the wild) can occur in either the primary or secondary recovery zones. Wolves are not allowed to establish territories on public lands wholly outside the BRWRA boundary and must be retrieved.

The Blue Range Mexican Wolf reintroduction project is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in collaboration with the following cooperating agencies: Arizona Game and Fish Department, USDA Forest Service, USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services, and the White Mountain Apache Tribe. These agencies, along with the Arizona Counties of Graham, Greenlee, and Navajo, work together under a formal Memorandum of Understanding which provides a framework for collaboration that is based in sound science and which enables the signatories to develop a mutually-agreeable, long-term collaboration in reintroduction of Mexican wolves in Arizona and New Mexico within the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area as defined in the 1998 Final Rule governing reintroduction.

Reintroduction of a top predator such as the Mexican wolf is highly complex and often controversial. It is important to understand the role Mexican wolves are playing on the landscape, including all of the potential biological, social and economic impacts - be they good, bad, or indifferent. In order to continually evaluate this role, an Interagency Field Team (IFT) has been formed and has the primary responsibilities of collecting data, monitoring, and managing the free-ranging Mexican wolf population. Equally important is the IFT's close interaction and involvement with local communities directly affected by wolf recovery. Additional information about the Blue Range Reintroduction Project can be found on Arizona Game and Fish Department's web page at: http://azgfd.gov/wolf.

2011 Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area Summary

At the end of 2011 at least 58 wolves occupied the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area. This represents a 14% increase over the 2010 minimum population count. Twelve of the thirteen packs documented in the BRWRA exhibited denning behavior. By year's end, six of these packs met the definition of a breeding pair, with a seventh pack determined to be an "operational breeding pair" (please see below for definitions). This represents a 70% increase in documented breeding pairs from 2010. During 2011, 38 pups were documented during the summer, and 19 were documented to have survived at year's end. The 2011 summer pup count is a 53% increase over 2010's summer pup count, and the 2011 year's end pup count is a 16% increase over the 2010 year's end pup count. Average pack size was 3.4, and an average of 1.6 pups survived per denning pack. This marks the tenth consecutive year in which wild born wolves bred and raised pups in the wild. Of the 13 known packs at the end of 2011, all were formed naturally and all but one (Middle Fork) was composed of at least one wild-born breeding wolf.

Two natural pairings were documented in 2011. In the Hawks Nest pack F1208 replaced AF1110 as the alpha female, following AF1110's death. The natural pairing of M1185 with an unknown uncollared female wolf resulted in the designation of the Willow Springs pack.

Twenty-six wolves were captured and collared. At year's end, 34 of 58 (59%) wolves were collared. In 2011, five wolves were fitted with GPS/ARGOS satellite telemetry collars. These radio collars use satellite technology to record accurate wolf locations on a frequent basis. This information can be used by biologists to gain timely information pertaining to many facets of wolf behavior such as dispersal, territory use, predation data, and denning behavior.

Two wolves, M1049 and F1105, were translocated from captivity to the wild, in attempt to increase genetic diversity, the number of breeding pairs, and the number of wolves in the wild. Eight mortalities of free-ranging wolves were documented in 2011, including four adults and four sub-adults. This is a 25% increase from documented free-ranging wolf mortalities (6) in 2010.

Home ranges were calculated for 12 packs exhibiting territorial behavior. The average home range size was 178mi². Mexican wolves occupied 4434 mi² of the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area during 2011. In comparison, Mexican wolves occupied 5245 mi² of the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area during 2010, resulting in a 16% decrease of occupied area.

Native prey used by wolves consisted primarily of elk; however, there were also twenty-two confirmed livestock depredations and four probable livestock depredations. There were three confirmed livestock injuries attributed to wolves.

The IFT analyzed 66 reports of wolf sightings from the public. In response to these sightings, the IFT searched roads, trails, and canyons looking for unknown wolves in and around the BRWRA. As a result, the IFT was successful in documenting two single wolves in AZ and three single wolves in New Mexico.

Project personnel gave 20 presentations and status reports to approximately 777 people in federal and state agencies, conservation groups, rural and urban communities, guide/outfitter organizations, livestock associations, schools, fairs, and various other public and private institutions. In addition, 6078 weekly contacts were made to cooperating agencies and stakeholders. Endangered Species Updates containing current project and recovery program information went out to an average of 1,284 people per month.

Definitions
Breeding pair: an adult male and an adult female that have produced at least two pups during the previous breeding season and which survived until December 31 of the year of their birth (USFWS 1998).
Operational breeding pair: an adult male and an adult female that have produced at least two pups during the previous breeding season and of which at least 2 pups survived until December 31 of the year of their birth, despite the loss and replacement of at least one biological parent of the offspring. This is a modification of the "Breeding pair" definition per the final 10j rule, to include pairs where alphas (one or both of the breeding adults in a pack) have been replaced but are functioning as a biological unit with a high probability of breeding success in the subsequent year.

Mexican Wolf Home Range Map

Mexican Wolf Blue Range Recovery Area
Population Estimate as of 12/31/2011

^a Wolf numbers on FAIR and SCAR are proprietary and therefore not displayed

^b Totals include wolves occurring on FAIR and SCAR

Mexican Wolf Recovery Program: Progress Reports
2011 and Earlier Reports

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