ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — There are now more Mexican gray wolves roaming the American Southwest than at any time since the federal government began reintroducing the endangered predators.An annual survey released Friday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows at least 109 wolves are spread among forested lands in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona.The population is more than double what it was in 2010. Last year, the survey turned up at least 83 wolves.Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director Benjamin Tuggle described the increase as a monumental milestone that has resulted from a combination of management changes made in recent years, experiments such as cross-fostering pups among different wolf packs and more social tolerance for the animals.”We don’t have the total formula. But we have what we think are the key elements for success, so we’re trying to move forward,” Tuggle said during a conference call.A subspecies of the gray wolf, the Mexican wolf was added to the federal endangered species list in 1976. It wasn’t until 1998 that the first captive-bred wolves were released into the wild.
via Mexican gray wolf population peaks in American Southwest – US News.