In New Mexico, the Mexican gray wolf, known to New Mexicans simply as the lobo, has roamed our unique landscapes for thousands of years and is even the mascot of the University of New Mexico. Lobos are New Mexico’s own. They were here long before us, and they belong here still. 

The lobo is also an essential part of restoring ecological health to New Mexico’s wilderness. As the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America, the Mexican gray wolf is a testament to both the resilience of nature and the ongoing effort to correct past mistakes, when eradication campaigns nearly wiped out lobos entirely. Wolves are apex predators, meaning they naturally regulate prey populations, which in turn revitalizes plant communities and ecosystems.

Today, the Mexican gray wolf’s recovery is still fragile. The wild U.S. population has grown to 317 wolves, but every one of them descends from just seven ancestors, leaving the population genetically vulnerable. The recovery plan requires the U.S. population to stay above 320 for years, along with a population of at least 200 wolves in Mexico, where only a few dozen live today. The lobo is still far from recovered.

Federal support for recovery is also under attack. In September 2026, a presidential executive order directed the U.S. Department of the Interior to consider stripping the lobo’s Endangered Species Act protections, pushed states to drop their own protections and loosen rules for killing wolves, and called for legislation to delist them, all before the government’s own recovery goals have been met. The recovery plan itself requires states to have protections against human-caused wolf deaths in place before delisting, the very protections the order urges them to abandon. This comes on top of broader rollbacks weakening habitat protections and a troubling rise in wolves killed over livestock conflicts. Lethal removals are a short-term fix that costs a fragile population irreplaceable animals. Lasting coexistence depends on proven non-lethal prevention tools.

In addition to advocating for wolf recovery, we support these endangered animals by protecting and defending the wild places they need to survive and thrive. Protecting them means protecting a piece of our identity as New Mexicans. Wolves belong!