Re-introduction of the Mexican wolf in the Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico

Summary

The Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi), extirpated from the wild by the late 1970s and rebuilt from just five founders into a binational captive population of 253 by mid-2013, was reintroduced to Mexico's Sierra Madre Occidental beginning in 2011, following a 2006 feasibility assessment that narrowed six candidate areas to two sites in Sonora and Chihuahua, complicated by Mexico's predominantly privately or communally owned land requiring individual landowner consent. A rehabilitated family group of five wolves was released in Sonora in 2011, followed six months later by a supplementary male; pairs were released in Chihuahua in October 2012 and April 2013, all fitted with satellite collars in coordination with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The Sonora release relied on public livestock-producer outreach, while Chihuahua used quieter, individualized negotiations backed by compensation payments; outcomes diverged sharply, with four of the first Sonora group found poisoned within two months and the surviving female dispersing nearly 200 km before her signal was lost, while the first Chihuahua pair remained bonded and settled, though the second pair separated and dispersed widely. Difficulties included antagonistic livestock producer attitudes in Sonora, carrion from poor husbandry drawing wolves into perceived depredation conflicts, and local communication obstacles. The project rates itself partially successful, crediting the individualized approach used in Chihuahua for better tolerance of wolves relative to the failed first release site.