January 1998

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Wolf Recovery in North America

Before the arrival of European settlers, 

wolves ranged widely across the 

continent, from coast to coast and from 

Canada to Mexico. Two species are 

found in North America, the gray wolf, 

with its various subspecies, and the red 

wolf, found in the southeastern United 

States.

Wolves play an important role as 

predators in the ecosystems they 

inhabit. They feed primarily on large 

mammals, such as deer and elk, 

removing sick and injured animals 

from the populations. Wolves are highly 

social, living in packs and hunting and 

raising young cooperatively.

As the country was settled, native prey 

species declined and the number of 

domestic animals increased. As wolves 

increasingly turned to livestock for 

prey, government agencies and private 

citizens undertook large-scale predator 

control programs, with wolves hunted 

nearly to extinction.

By the middle of the 20th century, few 

wolves existed in the lower 48 States. 

Only several hundred gray wolves in 

Minnesota and an isolated population 

on Michigan’s Isle Royale remained, 

along with an occasional Mexican 

wolf— and reports of a few red wolves.

Thanks to recovery programs and to 

the natural migration from Canada 

into Montana, more than 5000 gray 

wolves now live in the lower 48 States. 

Under the Endangered Species Act 

gray wolf populations in the northern 

Rocky Mountains are listed either 

as endangered or as “nonessential, 

experimental.” Mexican gray wolves 

are also “nonessential, experimental,” a 

designation that provides management 

flexibility. 

Partners such as State wildlife 

agencies, universities, and conservation 

organizations have developed recovery 

plans in various parts of the country, 

with the goal of restoring the species 

to a secure status in the wild as a 

functioning member of its ecosystem. 

Recovery enables the U. S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service to “delist” species so 

that they are no longer endangered 

or threatened—and to return their 

management to States and Tribes. 

Recovery plans identify the population 

levels and distribution necessary for 

a species to be considered recovered. 

When a species reaches recovery 

criteria, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service reviews the population status 

to determine whether reclassification 

or delisting is appropriate. Recovery 

criteria differ among populations 

depending on the threats to the species, 

the connectivity of the populations, and 

local ecological circumstances.

At the time of its listing under the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, the 

gray wolf in the eastern part of the 

United States had been eliminated 

from the landscape, except in northern 

Minnesota and on Isle Royale, 

Michigan. Protection under the Act 

has allowed the Minnesota population 

to grow, and now about 3,000 wolves 

live there. In addition, wolves returned 

to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and 

Wisconsin. About 900 animals live 

there.

Because these States achieved 

recovery goals outlined in the Eastern 

Timber Wolf Recovery Plan, the U. S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service has removed 

the western Great Lakes population 

of gray wolves from the protection of 

the Endangered Species Act. States 

and Tribes now manage wolves in the 

region.

Wolves in the Rocky Mountains

Probably the best-known wolf recovery 

effort was the reintroduction of wolves 

into Yellowstone National Park and 

central Idaho in 1995 and 1996. After 

an absence of more than 50 years, the 

Service brought wild gray wolves from 

Photo by Gary Kramer/USFWS
Canada to the Park and to the Frank 

Church River of No Return Wilderness 

Area in Idaho. The goal was to speed 

up recovery in the Rocky Mountain 

region and restore a species to the 

historic range from which it had been 

eliminated in the late 1920s.

Recovery partners released wolves 

as family groups in Yellowstone 

and individually in central Idaho. 

The program has been extremely 

successful. Wolves in both areas 

have formed packs and reproduced. 

Now Yellowstone is home to about 

371 wolves. About 713 wolves live in 

central Idaho. Coupled with natural 

recovery in northwestern Montana—

where there are now about 159 

wolves— the reintroduction program 

has boosted recovery progress in the 

Rocky Mountain region.

Mexican Gray Wolves

Mexican gray wolves, called Mexican 

wolves or lobos, were once common 

through western Texas, southern New 

Mexico, central Arizona, and northern 

Mexico. By the early 1900s, growing 

numbers, of livestock in the region and 

fewer natural prey species resulted in 

increasing numbers of livestock losses. 

Intensive control efforts were largely 

responsible for eradicating Mexican 

wolves by the middle of this century. 

The last confirmed wild Mexican wolf

was reported in the United States in 

1970 and in Mexico in 1980. 

Mexican wolves were listed as 

endangered in 1976, and a joint 

recovery effort with Mexico began. 

Using animals captured in Mexico in 

1977, recovery partners established 

a captive breeding population. These 

animals are the foundation of the 

recovery effort. Wolves that are 

candidates for reintroduction undergo a 

“pre-acclimation” period at Sevilleta 

National Wildlife Refuge in New 

Mexico and other remote facilities. 

This practice helps foster behavior 

and characteristics that enhance their 

ability to survive in the wild.

In 1998, the Fish and Wildlife Service 

released 13 captive-reared Mexican 

wolves in eastern Arizona. Two years 

later, the first Mexican wolf pup 

was conceived and born in the wild! 

Additional releases from progeny of the 

300 wolves in captivity are planned to 

reach the goal of a wild population of 

100 animals. 

Wolves in Alaska and Canada

Gray wolves in Alaska and Canada 

have never reached the point that 

protection under the Endangered 

Species Act is necessary. In Alaska, the 

State manages wolves—about 6,000 

to 7,000 animals. Similarly, provincial 

governments manage Canada’s 50,000-

60,000 wolves. The species is not 

considered endangered or threatened.

Red Wolves

Red wolves once ranged throughout 

the southeastern United States up 

the eastern seaboard towards New 

England. As with gray wolves, concern 

about conflict between red wolves and 

human activities resulted in eradication 

efforts. As red wolf numbers declined, 

the remaining animals in the wild were 

removed to zoos and other facilities to 

save the species. By 1980, the red wolf 

existed only in captivity, with a founder 

population of 14 animals!

Captive breeding efforts are proving 

to be successful. Reintroduction is 

continuing at Alligator River National 

Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. Red 

wolves have returned to the wild. 

In northeastern North Carolina about 

100 red wolves comprise 20 packs 

the wild. Captive breeding efforts at 

nearly 40 facilities throughout the 

United States have about 170 wolves. 

The captive rearing program is vital 

to maximizing the genetic diversity 

of the species and provides animals 

for occasional release into the wild. 

Recovery goals are 550 red wolves, 

including at least 220 in the wild.

Number of Gray Wolves in the 

Continental United States in 2006

Western Great Lakes States

Michigan 434*

Minnesota 3,020 

Wisconsin 465

*not including Isle Royale’s 30 wolves

Western States

Yellowstone 371

Northwest Montana 159

Central Idaho 713

Arizona/New Mexico 59

(Mexican Wolf) 

For more information about the status 

of wolves, contact one of the U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service offices listed below 

or the Service’s homepage at 

www.fws.gov.

Midwestern Region 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

1 Federal Drive 

Ft. Snelling, Minnesota 55111

Rocky Mountain Region

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

585 Shepard Way, 

Helena, Montana 59601

Mexican Wolves

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

P.O. Box 1306

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103

Red Wolf Recovery Program 

c/o Alligator River National Wildlife 

Refuge 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

708 North Highway 64 

Manteo, North Carolina 27954 

January 2007