Some news coming out of Washington could affect one of the animals calling Arizona home: the Mexican gray wolf.
On September 4, President Trump signed an order giving federal officials 90 days to review whether gray wolves and Mexican wolves have recovered enough to reduce or remove their endangered species protections. If officials decide they have, the order directs them to start that process. Read the announcement here.
So, what does that mean for the wolves here in Arizona?
For now, the order itself doesn’t remove their protections. But it does put their future management back up for discussion.
A Growing Population
There is some good news in the numbers! At the end of 2025, wildlife officials counted at least 319 Mexican wolves across Arizona and New Mexico, compared with 286 the year before.
That’s progress, although the population hasn’t yet reached the four year average of 320 wolves identified by state wildlife officials as a requirement for moving them from endangered to threatened status. See the population update here.
There’s a Lot to Consider
For ranchers sharing the landscape with wolves, protecting livestock is part of protecting their livelihood. The federal order also calls for reviewing how livestock losses are handled and when wolves threatening livestock or people can be removed. Read the details here.
Conservation advocates have concerns too. The population has grown, but limited genetic diversity remains a challenge for the wolves’ recovery. More on that here.
There’s a lot riding on how this is handled, both for the wolves and the people living and working around them.
We’ll be watching what comes out of the review. Arizona has so much to discover, and learning about the wildlife that calls it home is part of going Beyond the Cactus.