For Immediate Release, July 24, 2025

Contact:

• Michael Robinson, Center for Biological Diversity, (575) 313-7017, michaelr@biologicaldiversity.org
• Greta Anderson, Western Watersheds Project, (520) 623-1878, greta@westernwatersheds.org
• Sally Paez, New Mexico Wild, (505) 350-0664, sally@nmwild.org
• Claire Musser, Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, (928) 202-1325, claire@gcwolfrecovery.org
• Leia Barnett, WildEarth Guardians, (970) 406-2125, Lbarnett@wildearthguardians.org
• Mary Katherine Ray, Rio Grande Chapter Sierra Club, (575) 537-1095, mkrscrim@gmail.com

Another Mexican Gray Wolf Crosses Interstate 40 in New Mexico

Conservationists Urge Wildlife Officials to Let ‘Taylor’ Roam

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Thirty-five conservation organizations today asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service not torecapture a Mexican gray wolf who crossed Interstate 40 in New Mexico over the weekend. The wolf has returned to the area around Mount Taylor where he had previously been trapped and removed in May.

The wolf, dubbed “Taylor” for his repeated travel to the iconic mountain west of Albuquerque, was released in the Gila National Forest south of the Gila Cliff Dwellings. Over the past several weeks he covered more than 150 miles to reach Mount Taylor again.

“Taylor should be allowed to stay near his namesake mountain or wherever else he wants to go, regardless of the noxious political deal that led the Fish and Wildlife Service to ignore scientists and ban wolves north of I-40,” said Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Wolves have always crossed these arbitrary lines. Now more than ever Mexican wolves need connections with wolves to the north to increase their diminished genetic diversity.”

Independent scientists have determined that Mexican wolf recovery will require the species to inhabit broader areas than presently permitted, including in the Rocky Mountains in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Scientists also believe that connectivity with northern gray wolves in Colorado would bring much-needed genes to combat inbreeding in the Mexican wolf population.

“You can lead a wolf to the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area but you can’t make him stay there,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project. “Taylor and the other wanderers have voted with their paws to redraw the geographic limits of the recovery area, and we should honor their meaningful input by revising the management boundaries.”

Since 2017 four other wolves have crossed I-40 and been located near Mount Taylor, likely drawn to the area because there are few people and plenty of prey such as elk. One of those wolves was Asha, who was captured twice from the region in 2023. Asha, her mate and their five genetically valuable pups are currently languishing in captivity after the Fish and Wildlife Service delayed their release without explanation.

“We are once again watching with wonder as a Mexican wolf follows its wild instincts to disperse into New Mexico’s vast swaths of good habitat north of I-40,” said Sally Paez, staff attorney for New Mexico Wild. “For the Mexican wolf to recover, it’s critical that management policies allow dispersal into these additional wildlands, especially as our imperiled wolf population faces increasing pressures from chronic drought, wildfire and humans.”

“Wolves need to roam. But also, the ecosystems north of I-40 remain incomplete without the wolves that once lived there,” said Mary Katherine Ray, wildlife chair of the Rio Grande chapter of the Sierra Club. “Taylor and the wolves before him who have traveled north affirm this and fulfill the restoration of both.”

“Taylor knows where he belongs. Wolves like him are showing us what real recovery looks like, not confined by arbitrary lines, but led by instinct, resilience and the search for connection,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “If we truly care about their survival, we must let lobos lead.”

“Taylor’s return to the Mount Taylor region is just more evidence that lobos want and need to move north of the arbitrary I-40 boundary,” said Leia Barnett, Greater Gila advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “This game of capturing wolves that go north and either moving them into captivity, as in Asha’s case, or moving them back south is an exercise in futility and an ongoing barrier to meaningful recovery. Taylor must be allowed to roam and this should, once again, be cause for reconsideration of the I-40 boundary.”

Background

Mexican wolves are the only endangered animals that have rules requiring them to stay within politically determined boundaries. When initially reintroduced in 1998, the wolves were largely confined to the Gila National Forest in New Mexico and the Apache National Forest and Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona.

A 2004 Center for Biological Diversity petition showed that the region was insufficient and requested the wolves be allowed to roam. Two follow-up lawsuits led to a 2015 rule allowing the wolves to roam from the border with Mexico to I-40, even though by that time additional research showed the wolves needed lands north of I-40 for their recovery.

Mexican gray wolves near Mt. Taylor, New Mexico map by Western Watersheds Project and Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. Image is available for media use.

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The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.8 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

The Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project is dedicated to bringing back wolves to help restore ecological health in the Grand Canyon region, while also recognizing wolves as sentient beings with intrinsic value and worth.

Founded in 1997, New Mexico Wild is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) grassroots organization dedicated to the protection, restoration, and continued enjoyment of New Mexico’s wildlands and wilderness areas. For decades, New Mexico Wild has been at the forefront of protecting our small Mexican wolf population, keeping remote areas of the state wild enough for them to thrive and advocating for responsible wildlife management policies.

The mission of the Sierra Club and its 35,000 Rio Grande Chapter members and supporters in New Mexico and West Texas is to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.

The mission of Western Watersheds Project is to protect and restore western watersheds and wildlife through education, public policy initiatives, and legal advocacy.

WildEarth Guardians protects the wildlife and wild places in the American West, and protects the health of the public and our planet.