The US Fish & Wildlife Service agreed to drop plans to capture Mexican gray wolves
(Canis lupus baileyi) entering New Mexico and Arizona and propose expanding their recovery territory in agreements with the Center for Biological Diversity. The Mexican government has been releasing wolves south of the border and the USFWS issued itself a permit in November 2011 to permit trapping and indefinite detention of Mexican wolves entering the border states. In the latest agreement it will rescind the permit as it has no authority to remove protected endangered animals from the wild under the Endangered Species Act. The Service also agreed to propose releasing wolves directly into the Gila National Forest in New Mexico where there is extensive habitat suitable for wolves, and establish recovery territory between Interstate 10 and Interstate 40 of Arizona and New Mexico by January 12, 2015. Conservationists welcome the changes but do not think they go far enough since wolves that wander outside the designated zones would be subject to capture. For the Mexican gray wolf to make a full recovery they say the Grand Canyon, southern Rockies, and borderlands should all be designated wolf habitat. Wolves are breeding successfully in the existing Blue Range Recovery Area with a least 19 pups in five packs documented. However, the agency's goal of 100 wolves released in the wild by 2006 has not been met due to illegal killings, captures caused by livestock conflicts, and the lack of permissible release area. The Mexican gray and red wolves, both subspecies, were completely eliminated from the wild before reintroduction programs began. The northern grey wolf is still under threat of extinction because the federal government removed its legal protection in what some conservationists think was a political deal between the administration and Congress members from range states. These wolves face rabid anti-wolf politics resulting in unsustainable state policies towards the species.
