For immediate release May 28, 2025
Media contacts:
Greta Anderson, Western Watersheds Project (520) 623-1878; greta@westernwatersheds.org
Claire Musser, Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project (928) 202-1325; claire@gcwolfrecovery.org
Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club – Grand Canyon Chapter (602) 999-5790; sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org
Nico Lorenzen, Wild Arizona (520) 289-0147; nico@wildarizona.org
Kate Scott, Madrean Archipelago Wildlife Center; madreanwildlife@gmail.com
Erin Hunt, Lobos of the Southwest (928) 421-0187; erin@mexicanwolves.org
Regan Downey, Wolf Conservation Center (914) 763-2373; regan@nywolf.org
Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity (801) 300-2414; tmckinnon@biologicaldiversity.
TUCSON, Ariz. – Conservation groups today condemned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s decision to remove two Mexican gray wolves, known as Llave and Wonder, and their two new puppies from their den site in southeastern Arizona. These wolves were removed following months of inflated depredation reporting, anti-wolf fear mongering, and very few efforts by livestock ranchers to coexist with these native endangered species.
“When this pack first came across the border in 2022, it was a conservation success story. It showed connectivity between the U.S. and Mexico populations and offered hope of recovery in the historic habitat of the species,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project. “This action represents political capitulation to the organized anti-wolf factions rather than any rational approach to species’ recovery.”
This wolf family originated in the United States and was translocated to Mexico as part of the bi-national recovery effort. In 2022, the female (“Llave”) and her then-mate crossed back into the United States and took up territory in southwestern New Mexico. After his death, she traveled to Arizona where she was removed, rematched with another translocated wild male (“Wonder”), and re-released in the Peloncillo Mountains of Arizona spring of 2024. They established a den earlier this month and have two puppies, the first known litter of Mexican gray wolves in this part of Arizona in many decades.
“Removing a bonded pair and their newborn pups during denning season is not just ethically indefensible, it’s biologically reckless,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “Llave and Wonder were symbols of hope, representing the cross-border resilience this species needs to survive. Instead of supporting coexistence and science-based recovery, this decision rewards fear-driven narratives and undermines the wolves’ ability to thrive where they rightfully belong.”
“This action perpetuates ineffective and unethical management of these highly endangered animals, management that caters to the interests of the livestock industry rather than focuses on the mandate of the Endangered Species Act, to promote recovery of our Arizona wolves,” said Sandy Bahr, director of Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon (Arizona) Chapter. “Keeping these bonded wolf families in the wild and contributing is essential to recovery of wolves. Removal of this pack is a big setback to that effort.”
“Wolves are not just a number in a spreadsheet or a code in a ledger. They are vibrant socially intelligent individuals with unique relationships and interactions, not only to their mates, siblings, and pack members, but to the features and habitats across familiar landscapes,” said Nico Lorenzen, wildlife associate for Wild Arizona. “For true recovery and resilience of ecosystems, these highly imperiled wolves must be allowed to move freely, living full life cycles with minimal human disruption. Removing the Mañada del Arroyo pack at denning time and from this key location is shockingly at odds with agencies’ purported conservation aims and the science, ethics and values underpinning such recovery programs.”
“As Cochise county residents, we are appalled by the removal of Llave and Wonder and their family. This is shameful, reprehensible conduct on the part of USFWS. These endangered animals deserve our respect and protection. No words can describe what is in my heart at this moment by this abhorrent removal,” said Kate Scott, Madrean Archipelago Wildlife Center.
The removal of these four wolves from the wild is in addition to the two recently authorized lethal removals by livestock operators, including one in New Mexico and one in which a pregnant female was “accidentally” killed by Wildlife Services in Arizona.
“Instead of celebrating connectivity, family, rebirth, and restoration, we find ourselves once again missing Mexican wolves who belong on southwestern landscapes,” said Erin Hunt, managing director of Lobos of the Southwest. “Llave, Wonder, and their family have a right to thrive in their wild, ancestral home. That right has been unjustly taken from them because of a small faction of folks who want to control wild nature and extract whatever financial gains they can. We have a message for them on behalf of Llave, Wonder, and all wild lobos. This land does not belong to the few. It belongs to the many. And most importantly of all, it belongs to the wildlife who were here before us. We must do more to coexist.”
“The removal of Llave, Wonder, and their pups doesn’t just damage their wellbeing – it damages the entire recovery effort because agencies are choosing to prioritize falsehoods and private industry over a native, and endangered, species. As active partners in the Mexican gray wolf recovery program, we demand better coexistence practices,” said Regan Downey, director of education at the Wolf Conservation Center. “How can Mexican gray wolves recover when the very agencies tasked with their protection are working against their best interests?”
“Removing wolves from an area so critical for connecting U.S. and Mexican populations is an assault on their recovery,” said Taylor McKinnon, Southwest director with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Wolf wellbeing wasn’t the beneficiary of this decision, which is an ugly stain on the recovery program.”
Information about the removals was widely shared on social media by area livestock operators, but was not provided to the general public through any official press releases or statements by the agencies.
These wolves were located on lands that are the traditional territories of the Chiricahua Apache.
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