[31][32], As of July 2017, approximately 31 wild Mexican gray wolves inhabited Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico, in the northern Sierra Madre Occidental. The most recent count, in February 2017, revealed that the sole wild Mexican gray wolf population has only 113 members, making the Mexican wolf one of the most endangered mammals in North America.The wolf continues to struggle because for decades the U.S. Mexican gray wolves, aka lobos, are the smallest of the gray wolf subspecies. By 1999, with the addition of new lineages, the captive Mexican wolf population throughout the US and Mexico reached 178 individuals. Hey folks, I’m back to reviewing Mexican wolf depredation investigation reports and sifting through another few hundred pages of blood, guts, bones, and grammatical errors, and today I found these two from Apache County, Arizona in May 2020: AC 5-27-20 3, AC 5-27-20 4. [13][14] Mitochondrial DNA (mDNA) passes along the maternal line and can date back thousands of years. Likewise, gray wolf Y-chromosomes have also been found in a few individual male Texan coyotes. The wolf (Canis lupus), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America.More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus have been recognized, and gray wolves, as colloquially understood, comprise non-domestic/feral subspecies. The Mexican gray wolf is a critically endangered, native species that once numbered in the thousands of animals throughout southeastern Arizona, southern New Mexico, western Texas and northern Mexico. Valadez, R., Rodríguez, B., Manzanilla, L. & Tejeda, S. (2006), Humphrey, Jeff and Lambert, Lynda (February 13, 2015), CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, bridged gene-flows between gray wolves and coyotes in the Great Lakes region, "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Revision to the Regulations for the Nonessential Experimental Population of the Mexican Wolf", "An account of the taxonomy of North American wolves from morphological and genetic analyses", Dog-wolf hybrid biotype reconstruction from the archaeological city of Teotihuacan in prehispanic central Mexico, https://books.google.com/books?id=JgAMbNSt8ikC&pg=PA576, "Postcranial diversity and recent ecomorphic impoverishment of North American gray wolves", "Megafaunal extinctions and the disappearance of a specialized wolf ecomorph", "From the Past to the Present: Wolf Phylogeography and Demographic History Based on the Mitochondrial Control Region", "Hybridization among Three Native North American Canis Species in a Region of Natural Sympatry", "Texas State University Researcher Helps Unravel Mystery of Texas 'Blue Dog' Claimed to be Chupacabra", "DNA results show chupacabra animal is mixture of coyote, Mexican wolf", "Genome-Wide Analysis of SNPs is Consistent with No Domestic Dog Ancestry in the Endangered Mexican Wolf (Canis lupus baileyi)", "Population genomics of grey wolves and wolf-like canids in North America", "Clarifying historical range to aid recovery of the Mexican wolf", Mexican Wolf Recovery Program: Progress Report #15, "First Litter of Wild Wolf Pups Born in Mexico", 2014 Mexican Wolf Population Survey Complete - Population Exceeds 100, "How Mexican gray wolves are tracked in the wild", "CONFIRMED: 14 ENDANGERED MEXICAN GRAY WOLVES KILLED IN 2016", "Feds: 14 endangered Mexican wolves found dead in 2016", "Is the Mexican Gray Wolf a Valid Subspecies? Upon the conclusion of a 2020 survey, there were at least 186 Mexican wolves in the wild in the U.S. - a 14 percent increase from 2019 and the fifth-consecutive year of growth. In the city of Teotihuacan, it was common practice to crossbreed Mexican wolves with dogs to produce temperamental, but loyal, animal guardians. In 1995 wolves were reintroduced in … Some haplotypes possessed by the Mexican wolf, the extinct Great Plains wolf, and the extinct Southern Rocky Mountain wolf were found to form a unique "southern clade". In 1977, the last remaining Mexican gray wolves in the wild of the U.S. and Mexico were caught and efforts began. Wild 7 - 10 years Captivity 12 - 15 years. Mexican gray wolves usually eat only twice a week, and eat as much as 20 pounds of meat in one go. Late Pleistocene wolves on both sides of the Laurentide Ice Sheet — Cordilleran Ice Sheet possessed shorter legs when compared with most modern wolves. [9], Gray wolves (Canis lupus) migrated from Eurasia into North America 70,000–23,000 years ago[10][11] and gave rise to at least two morphologically and genetically distinct groups. canis lupus baileyi. Biologists have established that the Mexican wolf is the smallest and southernmost occurring subspecies of gray The Recovery Team composed the Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan, which called for the reestablishment of at least 100 wolves in their historic range through a captive breeding program. In 1977, the U.S. Though they once numbered in the thousands, these wolves were wiped out in the U.S. by the mid-1970s, with just a handful existing in zoos. The Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi), also known as the lobo, is a subspecies of gray wolf native to southeastern Arizona and southern New Mexico in the United States, and northern Mexico; it also previously ranged into western Texas. ... Lifespan. Social Behavior. Mexican gray wolves breed in February and March, and following a gestation period of approximately 63 days, the mother gives birth to four to seven pups. [27] Releases have also been conducted in Mexico, and the first birth of a wild wolf litter in Mexico was reported in 2014. Fish and Wildlife Services discovered that 52 of 90 wolf pups born earlier in 2018 had survived to adulthood. [25], There was a rapid reduction of Mexican wolf populations in the Southwestern United States from 1915-1920; by the mid-1920s, livestock losses to Mexican wolves became rare in areas where the costs once ranged in the millions of dollars. The Mexican gray wolf used to be prominent in southern New Mexico, southeastern Arizona, southwestern Texas and central and northern Mexico back in the mid-1800s, but was effectively eliminated from the United States by the mid-1900s with Mexican populations severely reduced. [33] In February 2018, five more wolves were released in Chihuahua, bringing the total wild population in Mexico (Sonora and Chihuahua) to thirty-seven wolves. A 2021 census also revealed that there are now approximately 186 Mexican gray wolves in the American Southwest, with about 72 wolves in Arizona and 114 in New Mexico. The wolf is the largest extant member of the family Canidae, males averaging 40 kg (88 lb) and females 37 kg (82 lb). North American Fauna No. Killing a Mexican wolf is a violation of Arizona state law and the federal Endangered Species Act and can result in federal criminal penalties of up to $50,000, up to a year in jail, or a civil penalty of up to $25,000, according to the Service.. [20][21] It has been suggested that the hybrid animal was afflicted with sarcoptic mange, which would explain its hairless and blueish appearance.[20]. Life-history characteristics of the Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi; hereafter Mexican wolf) are largely unknown because systematic studies were not conducted on the subspecies before it was extirpated from the wild (Brown 1983). Wolf numbers began to rapidly decline during the 1930s-1940s, when Mexican ranchers began adopting the same wolf-control methods as their American counterparts, relying heavily on the indiscriminate usage of 1080. The last wild wolves to be killed in Texas were a male shot on December 5, 1970 on Cathedral Mountain Ranch and another caught in a trap on the Joe Neal Brown Ranch on December 28. Between 1977 and 1980, four males and a pregnant female were captured in Durango and Chihuahua in Mexico to act as founders of a new "certified lineage". [37], Eight Mexican wolf cubs were born at the Desert Museum in Saltillo, Coahuila on July 1, 2020. Then, she gave birth to two more pups in 2019. A wolf’s sense of smell is about 100 times better than a human’s. This past distribution is supported by ecological, morphological, and physiographic data. [4], Though once held in high regard in Pre-Columbian Mexico,[5] it is the most endangered gray wolf subspecies in North America (if counting the red wolf as a separate species), having been extirpated in the wild during the mid-1900s through a combination of hunting, trapping, poisoning and digging pups from dens. From this program, captive-bred Mexican wolves were released into recovery areas in Arizona and New Mexico beginning in 1998 in order to assist the animals' recolonization of their former historical range.[6]. [7] This wolf is recognized as a subspecies of Canis lupus in the taxonomic authority Mammal Species of the World (2005). Mexican gray wolves typically live up to 13 years in the wild and up to 15 years in captivity, the zoo said. The Mexican wolf, also known as “El Lobo,” is the smallest subspecies of the gray wolf and the most endangered wolf in the world. Adults have a mixed coat of white, gray, brown, tan, and black. These wolves live in a pack of 4-8 individuals with only one alpha breeding pair that will typically breed for life or until they are pushed out by a lower-ranking animal in their pack. [24], The Mexican wolf was held in high regard in Pre-Columbian Mexico, where it was considered a symbol of war and the Sun. The Mexican wolf and pre-1900 samples of the Great Plains wolf (Canis lupus nubilus) resembled the Late Pleistocene and Holocene fossil gray wolves due to their shorter legs.[10]. Washington, D.C. A Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi), a subspecies of gray wolf, photographed at Wild Canid Survival and Research Center in St. Louis, Missouri nubilus. [15] A 2005 study compared the mitochondrial DNA sequences of modern wolves with those from thirty-four specimens dated between 1856 and 1915. As of 2021[update], there are 187 wild Mexican wolves, and 350 in captive breeding programs. While wolves may occasionally take down unprotected livestock, they much prefer wild prey. Nevertheless, in a study that analyzed the molecular genetics of the coyotes as well as samples of historical red wolves and Mexican wolves from Texas, a few coyote genetic markers have been found in the historical samples of some isolated individual Mexican wolves. Found only in North America, its historical range was the Southwest, including Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and northern Mexico. There are also approximately 350 Mexican wolves in captive breeding facilities across the United States and Mexico. [26] Vernon Bailey, writing in the early 1930s, noted that the highest Mexican wolf densities occurred in the open grazing areas of the Gila National Forest, and that wolves were completely absent in the lower Sonora. arizona - mexican wolf stock pictures, royalty-free photos & … arizona sonora desert museum, tucson. The Mexican gray wolf is the world’s most endangered wolf. However, in 2018, one of our wolves had two pups. But the challenge was met, and the establishment of a healthy captive population of Mexican wolves was the first success of Mexican wolf recovery. Lifespan. He estimated that there were 103 Mexican wolves in New Mexico in 1917, though the number had been reduced to 45 a year later. It is the smallest of North America's gray wolves,[2] and is similar to the extinct Great Plains wolf (C. l. nubilus), though it is distinguished by its smaller, narrower skull and its darker pelt, which is yellowish-gray and heavily clouded with black over the back and tail. Overall, nine Mexican wolf pups have been born here. They will work together as a pack in order to take down the larger prey, such as elk and deer. The areas described coincide with the distribution of the Madrean pine-oak woodlands, a habitat which supports Coues’ white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus couesi) that is the Mexican wolf's main prey. … Our Mexican gray wolves are located in the Jim Jackson Intensive Management Area. Captivity 12 - 15 years, Packs (alpha pair, their offspring and other non-breeding adults); lifelong mates. It is the smallest of North America's gray wolves, and is similar to the extinct Great Plains wolf(C. l. nubilus), though it is distinguished by its smaller, narrower skull and its darker pelt, which is yellowish-gray and heavily clouded with black over the back and tail. Bailey, V. (1932), Mammals of New Mexico. Wild turkeys are the largest North American game bird and the fowl that was Benjamin Franklin’s choice for America’s national bird. At that time, there were only seven Mexican wolves known to exist. One group is represented by the extinct Beringian wolf[10][12] and the other by the modern populations. The major limb bones of the dire wolf, Beringian wolf, and most modern North American gray wolves can be clearly distinguished from one another. The Gray Wolf has a larger natural distribution than any other mammal except humans. The majority of the wolves are in New Mexico and the rest are in Arizona. The fur of Mexican gray wolves is a mixture of gray, black, rust, and cream. A wolf’s howl can be heard more than five miles away. Pages 303-308. Its long legs and sleek body enable it to run fast. In 2017, there are at least 143 Mexican wolves living wild in Mexico, Arizona, and New Mexico. [22] Another study in the same year was published in the PLOS Genetics Journal which analyzed the population genomics of gray wolves and coyotes from all over North America. profile portrait. [36] The 2019 census also found more than 30 in Mexico. [30] In 2016, 14 Mexican wolves were killed, making it the highest death count of any year since they were reintroduced into the wild in 1998. Over time, the captive breeding program and the recovery program grew with great success, and in 1998, 11 captive-bred Mexican gray wolves were released into the wild in a small area of Arizona and New Mexico. Direct hybridizations between coyotes and gray wolves was never explicitly observed. Its ancestors were likely th… Wolves were trapped, shot, and poisoned by both private individuals and government agents, as bounties were paid. In 1976, the Mexican gray wolf was listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Unlike eastern wolves and red wolves, the gray wolf species rarely interbreeds with coyotes in the wild. Wolves were still being reported in small numbers in Arizona in the early 1970s, while accounts of the last wolf to be killed in New Mexico are difficult to evaluate, as all the purported "last wolves" could not be confirmed as genuine wolves rather than other canid species. The life span of the Mexican Wolf is up to 16 years in captivity, up to 6 years in the wild. ", "Liberan 5 ejemplares de lobo mexicano en Chihuahua", "Endangered Mexican Wolf pups transferred to New Mexico and Arizona", "Mexican gray wolf numbers in the US soared in 2019", "Habitat plays crucial role in protecting two wolf groups in U.S., Mexico", "Las tiernas imágenes de los ocho cachorros de lobo gris mexicano que nacieron en Saltillo", "Wild population of endangered Mexican wolves keeps growing", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mexican_wolf&oldid=1021672187, Articles containing Spanish-language text, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2021, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 6 May 2021, at 01:06. The study's author also suggests that the admixture from coyotes may have also played a role in the basal phylogenetic placement of this subspecies. Since 1998, 92 wolf deaths were recorded, with four occurring in 2012; these four were all due to illegal shootings. All North American wolves group together with those from Eurasia, except for the southern clade which form a group exclusive to North America. The captive Mexican gray wolf program, Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan (SSP), began in 1977 with a huge push to also create a reintroduction program for these animals. By 1927, it had apparently become extinct in New Mexico. Circus life … Fish and Wildlife Service initiated efforts to conserve the species. The public is encouraged to report information regarding this case by calling 1-844-FWS-TIPS (397-8477) or emailing [email protected] These captive-bred animals were subsequently released into the Apache National Forest in eastern Arizona, and allowed to recolonize east-central Arizona and south-central New Mexico, areas which were collectively termed the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area (BRWRA). The Mexican gray wolf is a subspecies of the gray wolf, commonly referred to as “el lobo”. Holocene wolves from Middle Butte Cave (dated less than 7,600 YBP) and Moonshiner Cave (dated over 3,000 YBP) in Bingham County, Idaho were similar to the Beringian wolves. The greater roadrunner, a ground cuckoo also known as the chaparral cock, is easily spotted by its distinctive appearance consisting of a black-and-white mottled feather... Jackrabbits are not rabbits; they are actually hares, which are larger than rabbits and generally have longer ears and hind legs. Howell works with the Wolf Conservation Center (WCC), a facility that has participated in the Mexican wolf species survival plan for the last 16 years, housing and breeding endangered wolves. [17], In 2016, a study of mitochondrial DNA sequences of both modern and ancient wolves generated a phylogenetic tree which indicated that the two most basal North American haplotypes included the Mexican wolf and the Vancouver Island wolf. [26], The Mexican wolf was listed as endangered under the U.S. The alpha pair may be the only pair to breed in a pack. Fish and Wildlife Service would like to recognize the participants who attended the Endangered Species Act in 1976, with the Mexican Wolf Recovery Team being formed three years later by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. [3] Its ancestors were likely the first gray wolves to enter North America after the extinction of the Beringian wolf, as indicated by its southern range and basal physical and genetic characteristics. [6], By late 2012, it was estimated that there were at least 75 wolves and four breeding pairs living in the recovery areas, with 27% of the population consisting of pups. Lifespan/Longevity. Early accounts of the distribution of the Mexican wolf included southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, sometimes western Texas, USA and the Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico. As of November 2017, 114 Mexican gray wolves were living in the wild in Arizona and New Mexico, distributed in 22 packs across the two states. mexican wolf. The pack is ruled by an alpha male and female who are responsible for maintaining territorial boundaries, keeping the peace among pack members and initiating the movements of the pack. • Acting in defense of human life. Mexican Wolf Mating and Reproduction . Fossil Rim has had Mexican gray wolves since 1990 when we first started to participate in the captive breeding program. Mexican Jesus Aceves known as "Chuy The Wolf Man" due to the condition of the disease hypertrichosis, speaks during an interview in Mexico City on September 24, 2015. The position of the National Academies is that the historic population of Mexican wolf represents a distinct evolutionary lineage of gray wolf, and that modern Mexican wolves are their direct descendants. A pack will establish its territory, ranging up to several hundred square miles. However, because the primary prey of Mexican wolves is smaller than the moose and caribou hunted by northern wolves, wolf pack sizes are probably smaller, as well. Mexican gray wolves typically live up to 13 years in the wild and up to 15 years in captivity, the zoo said. [26], The Mexican wolf persisted longer in Mexico, as human settlement, ranching and predator removal came later than in the Southwestern United States. In an effort to fight the slowing recovery, GPS monitoring devices are being used to monitor the wolves. This is the highest the wolf count has been since 1998, when the U.S. government, in cooperation with state and Mexican agencies, began releasing captive-bred wolves into the wild. The Attwater’s prairie chicken (APC) is possibly the most endangered bird in North America. The Mexican gray wolf weighs 60-80 pounds and stands 26-32 inches high at the shoulder. There are 240 in captive breeding programs in the USA and Mexico. [23] This study detected the presences of coyote admixtures in various western gray wolf populations, all previously thought to be free of coyote-introgression, and found that the Mexican wolves carry 10% coyote admixture. The Recovery Plan called for the release of additional wolves in the White Sands Wolf Recovery Area in south-central New Mexico, should the goal of 100 wild wolves in the Blue Range area not be achieved. However, shorter legs survived well into the Holocene after the extinction of much of the Pleistocene megafauna, including the Beringian wolf. Commonly referred to as El lobo, the Mexican wolf is gray with light brown fur on its back. The approximate life span of the Mexican Wolf is 16 years in captivity, rather less in the wild. [5] The earliest written record of the Mexican wolf comes from Francisco Javier Clavijero's Historia de México in 1780, where it is referred to as Cuetzlachcojotl, and is described as being of the same species as the coyote, but with a more wolf-like pelt and a thicker neck. The Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi), also known as the lobo,[a] is a subspecies of gray wolf native to southeastern Arizona and southern New Mexico in the United States, and northern Mexico; it also previously ranged into western Texas. [4], A haplotype is a group of genes found in an organism that are inherited together from one of their parents. [39] In total, the number of Mexican gray wolves in the wild add up to more than 220 wild wolves as of March 13, 2021. They breed from late January through early March and give birth to an average of 4-6 pups about 63 days later. endangered species. In North America, the Gray Wolf is now found primarily in Canada and Alaska, with much smaller numbers in Minnesota. The rest of the deaths remain under investigation. They preferred mountain woodlands, probably because of the favorable combination of cover, water, and available prey. The Life of Animals | Mexican Wolf | The Mexican Wolf is the smallest Gray Wolf subspecies present in North America. Once exterminated from the wild, Mexican wolves are being reintroduced into their former range in Arizona and New Mexico. [10] One author proposes that the Mexican wolf's ancestors were likely the first gray wolves to cross the Bering Land Bridge into North America during the Late Pleistocene after the extinction of the Beringian wolf,[12] colonizing most of the continent until pushed southwards by the newly arrived ancestors of C. l. The Mexican wolf is the most endangered wolf in the world, and one of the most endangered mammals in North America. The Texas tortoise is the smallest of four species of gopher tortoises found in the United States. Its restoration is an opportunity to bring a natural balance and fully functioning ecosystem back to the wild lands of the Southwest. Its long legs and svelte body help it to run quickly after its prey (mostly large hoofed mammals like elk and deer). There are 20 types of armadillos in existence, but only the nine-banded armadillo is found in the United States where it first appeared about one... American LaManchas were created in the 1930s by a woman named Eula F. Frey in Oregon. In 1982, the U.S.F.W.S. Reporting Required Any person taking such action must report the incident within 24 hours to the Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Office: 1-888-459-9653 or the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish 24-hour dispatch telephone: 1-800-432-4263. The Mexican gray wolf has nocturnal habits and like others of its species, it is organized in packs of five or more members, among which it chooses a unique pair, called an alpha pair. Two of the deaths were caused by officials trying to collar the animals. A typical pack of five or six animals might consist of an adult pair and their offspring, with a territory encompassing up to several hundred square miles. A Mexican gray wolf has died at the … The remaining body parts were deposited in underground funerary chambers with a westerly orientation, which symbolized rebirth, the Sun, the underworld and the canid god Xolotl. They are also the most endangered. 53. It is a valid taxonomic subspecies classified as Canis lupus baileyi. Family Life: Mexican gray wolves live in packs of three to eight with a strong social hierarchy. [19] This study suggested that although the Mexican gray wolf is generally less prone to hybridizations with coyotes compared to the red wolf, there may have been exceptional genetic exchanges with the Texan coyotes among a few individual gray wolves from historical remnants before the population was completely extirpated in Texas. Packs (alpha pair, their offspring and other non-breeding adults); lifelong mates. From 1976-1998, the Mexican wolf had been considered extinct in the wild. With it, it reproduces for life, raising between 4 and 9 puppies per year, achieved in a single birth, generally between April and May. The wide distribution area of the southern clade indicates that gene flow was extensive across the recognized limits of its subspecies. This is the most genetically distinct lineage of gray wolves in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most endangered animals in North America. Fish and Wildlife Service has bowed to pressure from state agencies whose hunting constituents see the wolf as an unwelcome … fewer than 50 remain in the wild. The Mexican Wolf being the smallest subspecies of North American Gray Wolf has a length of around 135cms and a height of around 80cms. Gray wolves may live thirteen years in the wild, though average lifespan is 5 to 6 years. After being listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1976, the United States and Mexico collaborated to capture all lobos remaining in the wild. Historically, Mexican wolves were found in a variety of southwestern habitats; however, they were not low desert dwellers. In the wild, the Mexican gray wolves’ diet consists of elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, rabbits, javelinas, and other small mammals. Mexican gray wolves wag their tails, howl, yip, growl, play, and mark their territory with urine. [3] Sporadic encounters with wolves entering Texas, New Mexico and Arizona via Mexico continued through to the 1950s, until they too were driven away through traps, poison and guns. The Mexican wolf was first described as a distinct subspecies in 1929 by Edward Nelson and Edward Goldman on account of its small size, narrow skull and dark pelt. The wolves’ numbers in Mexico were also greatly reduced throughout the 1900s, making repopulation by migration all the more difficult. Most U.S. populations of gray wolves have now been delisted, except for experimental populations of Mexican gray wolves in the southwest. A Mexican wolf from the Bear Wallow Pack in the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area. This extreme measure prevented the lobos' extinction. Like all wolves, the lobo is a social creature with an intricate system of communication and social structure. There are more whooping cranes than APCs. It once ranged through all of North America from the Arctic Circle to central Mexico. But because of human persecution and habitat destruction it has been eliminated from much of its original range. However, the same study also countered that theory with an alternative possibility that it may have been the red wolves, who in turn also once overlapped with both species in the central Texas region, who were involved in circuiting the gene-flows between the coyotes and gray wolves much like how the eastern wolf is suspected to have bridged gene-flows between gray wolves and coyotes in the Great Lakes region since direct hybridizations between coyotes and gray wolves is considered rare. Mexican wolves are the smallest subspecies of North American gray wolves. [28] A study released by the U.S. Five wild Mexican wolves (four males and one pregnant female) were captured alive in Mexico from 1977 to 1980 and used to start a captive breeding program. White-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, mice, squirrels, rabbits and sometimes carrion, Smallest of the gray wolf species with a coat containing black, brown, rust and gray, Wild 7 - 10 years About Mexican Gray Wolf. [38] In March 2021, a family of nine Mexican gray wolves (a breeding pair of wolves and their seven pups) were released into the wild of northern Mexico, bringing the total number of wolves in Mexico to around 40 wild individuals. Wolves were also sacrificed in religious rituals, which involved quartering the animals and keeping their heads as attire for priests and warriors. LIFE CYCLE: The lifespan of a Mexican gray wolf is six to eight years. Modern wolves in the Midwestern USA and northwestern North America possess longer legs that evolved during the Holocene, possibly driven by the loss of slower prey. Roughly 30 wild wolves live in Mexico. The weight of the wolves ranges from 30-45kgs. In tests performed on a sample from a taxidermied carcass of what was initially labelled as a chupacabra, mitochondrial DNA analysis conducted by Texas State University professor Michael Forstner showed that it was a coyote. 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