Successful Recovery Efforts Prompt Service Proposal to Delist Gray Wolf and Focus ESA Protection on Mexican Wolf
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to remove the gray wolf (Canis lupus) from the list of threatened and endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The proposal comes not long after the recovery and delisting of the gray wolf in the western Gray wolf. Credit: Gary Kramer / USFWS Great Lakes states and Northern Rockies as a result of three decades of successful management actions undertaken by federal, state and local partners. However, the Service is also proposing to maintain protection and expand recovery efforts for the Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) in the Southwest, where it remains endangered. The proposal includes the Service’s comprehensive review which determined that the current listing for gray wolf, developed 35 years ago, erroneously included large geographical areas outside the species’ historical range. In addition, the review found that the current gray wolf listing does not reasonably represent the range of the only remaining popu...