Arizona Game and Fish Department

Our Mission

To conserve Arizona’s diverse wildlife resources and manage for safe, compatible outdoor recreation opportunities for current and future generations.

Every day the dedicated team at the Arizona Game and Fish Department is actively engaged in wildlife conservation efforts across the state. Learn about our ongoing initiatives to conserve and protect Arizona’s rich biodiversity, which includes more than 800 wildlife species.

Projects

National FWS Programs They Work With

A mexican wolf with a blue radio collar lays on the ground looking behind it

Conserving the Mexican Wolf

Once common throughout parts of the Southwestern U.S. and Mexico, the Mexican wolf was all but eliminated from the wild by the 1970s due to conflicts with livestock. In 1976, the Mexican wolf was listed as endangered and a binational captive breeding program was initiated soon after to save this...

Program

Albuquerque,NM

A female Mexican wolf was successfully translocated back into the wild in Arizona on Wednesday, June 7, 2023. Female wolf 2754 was captured in northern New Mexico in January and temporarily held at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) Sevilleta Mexican Wolf Management Facility outside...

Press Release

Jun 14, 2023

2023 Mexican Wolf Fostering

Partners in Mexican wolf conservation are pleased to announce the successful fostering of 16 genetically valuable Mexican wolf pups this spring. The pups traveled from four captive facilities across the country and were placed into six wild dens in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico.

Press Release

May 26, 2023

A frog on the edge of a pond with a person standing out-of-focus in the background.

Working Toward Recovery for the Chiricahua Leopard Frog

When people think about the southwestern United States, most picture arid deserts and mountainous areas, however southwestern states including Arizona and New Mexico also contain riparian woodlands and wetlands that many species rely on. One of those species is the Chiricahua leopard frog.

Story

May 24, 2023

Mexican Wolf Numbers Soar Past 200

For the first time since reintroduction into the wild, the population of Mexican wolves in Arizona and New Mexico has surpassed 200, with a minimum of 241 wild wolves documented in 2022.

Press Release

Feb 28, 2023

a short round cactus with long dark red spines and pink flowers.

Acuña Cactus Final Recovery Plan

Following a 60-day public comment period, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized a recovery plan for the endangered acuña cactus (Echinomastus erectocentrus var. acunensis), a small, spherical, usually single-stemmed succulent that occurs in valleys and on small knolls and gravel ridges...

Press Release

Aug 31, 2022

Partners Sign Letter of Intent to Forward Collaborative Binational Approach to Mexican Wolf Recovery

Partners have signed a Letter of Intent establishing the intentions of all parties to collaboratively continue to conserve, manage, and recover the Mexican wolf in the U.S. and Mexico.

Press Release

Jul 13, 2022

Eleven Mexican Wolf Pups Join the Wild Population

Eleven genetically valuable captive-born Mexican wolf pups have been placed into wild dens to be raised in the wild by their surrogate parents after another successful fostering season. This is the seventh year of fostering Mexican wolf pups.

Press Release

May 27, 2022

Three young Mexican wolves inspect a log on the ground in the wild

Wild population of Mexican wolves grows in size for sixth year

The wild population of Mexican wolves in the United States continued to grow in 2021. According to the 2021 annual count, the U.S. population of Mexican wolves has increased by 5 percent since the previous year, raising the total number of wolves in the wild to a minimum of 196 animals. This marks...

Press Release

Mar 30, 2022

Sage of the Sonora

It’s hard to find someone who dislikes tortoises. Their occurrence in mythology spans continents, where they symbolize wisdom and stability. Perhaps it’s their calm nature and slow movement. Maybe they remind us of our elders. In the case of the Sonoran Desert tortoise, we even share a similar life...

Story

Feb 7, 2022

Endangered Species Act

Partner Category

Conservation, Science, and Land Management Organizations

We often partner with non-governmental conservation organizations on conservation projects, whether it's to conserve identified species such as the monarch butterfly or to advise on land acquisition for conservation so that it has the greatest benefit for species.

Friends Groups

Friends groups are organizations of community members committed to helping national wildlife refuges and national fish hatcheries meet conservation goals that would otherwise be out of reach.

Nature, Outdoor, and Recreation

Those who experience the outdoors and wildlife first-hand become its greatest conservationists. We partner with these groups to foster their love of wildlife and conservation.

Non-Governmental Organizations

Here we partner with a wider variety of other organizations on projects to meet shared conservation goals.

State and Provincial Agencies

Our hands-on stewardship and public engagement is often done in conjunction with state and provincial agencies.

Arizona Game and Fish Department

Other Partners

Here are just a few of our National Partners. You can view the full list of FWS partners, along with the regions and areas of focus our work together entails.