Environmental groups followed through on plans to file multiple lawsuits against the federal government over the Mexican wolf recovery plan.
They say the plan reduces the species’ historic range which they claim extends to the Southern Rocky Mountains including Grand Canyon National Park. Recent research, however, reaffirmed 90 percent of the Mexican wolf historic range was south of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the Mexican wolf, with its minimum current population of 144 across Arizona and New Mexico, would number 320 by 2043 and be eligible for delisting.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation maintains that state wildlife agencies should manage wolves just as they manage elk, mountain lions, deer, and other wildlife as per the North American Wildlife Conservation Model.
(Photo source: Arizona Department of Game and Fish)