Wolf reintroduction

Reestablishment of extirpated native wolves

Wolf reintroduction involves the reintroduction of a portion of grey wolves in areas where native wolves have been extirpated. More than 30 subspecies of Canis lupus have been recognized, and grey wolves, as colloquially understood, comprise nondomestic/feral subspecies. Reintroduction is only considered where large tracts of suitable wilderness still exist and where certain prey species are abundant enough to support a predetermined wolf population.

The five last known wild Mexican gray wolves were captured in 1980 in accordance with an agreement between the United States and Mexico intended to save the critically endangered subspecies. Between 1982 and 1998, a comprehensive captive breeding program brought Mexican wolves back from the brink of extinction. Over 300 captive Mexican wolves were part of the recovery program. The ultimate goal for these wolves is to reintroduce them to areas of their former range. In March 1998, this reintroduction campaign began with the releasing of three packs into the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona, and 11 wolves into the Blue Range Wilderness Area of New Mexico. By 2014, as many as 100 wild Mexican wolves were in Arizona and New Mexico. The final goal for Mexican wolf recovery is a wild, self sustaining population of at least 300 individuals. In 2021, 186 wolves were counted in the annual survey, of which 114 wolves were spotted in New Mexico and the other 72 in Arizona. This shows a steady growth throughout the last 5 years.

as of 2024, there were at least 257 wild Mexican wolves in the United States: 144 in New Mexico (36 packs), and 113 in Arizona (20 packs). This represents 8 years of consecutive population growth. The total captive Mexican wolf population is 380 individuals, across over 60 facilities.

Wolves traversed a Rocky Mountain pathway from Canada to Mexico until the 1940s. They are seen by wildlife experts as essential to the native balance of species, species interactions, and ecosystem health. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) created a multidisciplinary working group that drafted a wolf management plan for possible reintroduction. The Colorado Wildlife Commission approved the plan in May 2005. Proposition 114, a ballot initiative to introduce wolves on the Western Slope by 2023, was narrowly approved by voters in November 2020. The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission was tasked with preparing a plan. In late December 2023, the first wolves were released onto public land in Summit and Grand counties. The 10 wolves were translocated from Oregon. The group consisted of two adult male, two juvenile males, and six juvenile females.

As of March 2023, the Northern Rocky Mountains gray wolf population is now distributed across western Montana (1,100 wolves), western Wyoming (311 wolves), Idaho (1,337 wolves), eastern Washington (206 wolves), and Eastern Oregon (175 wolves). There is a small presence in northern California (30 wolves) and in December 2023, a small population was released in northern Colorado to complement the small number of wolves that had naturally dispersed into the state (16 wolves). The wolves were relocated to North Carolina in 1998, ending the effort to reintroduce the species to the park.

In December 1976, two red wolves were released onto Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge's Bulls Island in South Carolina with the intent of testing and honing reintroduction methods. They were not released with the intent of beginning a permanent population on the island. The first experimental translocation lasted for 11 days, during which a mated pair of red wolves was monitored day and night with remote telemetry. A second experimental translocation was tried in 1978, with a different mated pair, and they were allowed to remain on the island for close to 9 months. In September 1987, four pairs of red wolves were released in ARNWR in northeastern North Carolina and designated as an experimental population. Since then, the experimental population has grown and the recovery area expanded to include four national wildlife refuges, a Department of Defense bombing range, state owned lands, and private lands, encompassing about
According to the Red Wolf Recovery Program First Quarter Report (October–December 2010), the FWS estimated that 110 130 red wolves were in the Red Wolf Recovery Area in North Carolina, but since not all of the newly bred in the wild red wolves have radio collars, they can only confirm a total of 70 "known" individuals, 26 packs, 11 breeding pairs, and 9 additional individuals not associated with a pack. Interbreeding with the coyote has been recognized as a threat affecting the restoration of red wolves. Currently, adaptive management efforts are making progress in reducing the threat of coyotes to the red wolf population in northeastern North Carolina. Other threats, such as habitat fragmentation, disease, and anthropogenic mortality, are of concern in their restoration. Efforts to reduce the threats are presently being explored. However, relaxed protections and a halt of reintroductions in the early 2010s led to a plummet in the population due to poaching and vehicle collisions. The wild population declined from approximately 130 individuals in 2010 to less than 10 individuals by 2021. No wild litters were born between 2019 and 2021. Under pressure from conservation groups, the US Fish and Wildlife Service resumed reintroductions and increased protection. Reintroductions resumed in 2021. In 2022, the first wild litter was born since 2018. As of 2023, there are between 15 and 17 wild red wolves in ARNWR.

In 1989, the second island propagation project was initiated with release of a population of red wolves on Horn Island off the Mississippi coast. This population was removed in 1998 because of a likelihood of encounters with humans. The third island propagation project introduced a population on St. Vincent Island, Florida, offshore between Cape San Blas and Apalachicola, Florida, in 1990, and in 1997, the fourth island propagation program introduced a population to Cape St. George Island, Florida, south of Apalachicola.

An official analysis of wolves in New York by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) stated that, due to the adaptability of wolves to different habitats, there exists a significant amount of area (about 6000 square miles (15,540 km2) of the Adirondacks) in the state suitable for wolves, and that the best course of action for the organization would be to reintroduce the species. Despite no confirmed breeding population, wolves are still listed as Endangered in the state, and are a protected species under Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) section 11 0535. An interview with DEC biologists in 2015 explained that three extirpated carnivores (wolves, cougars, and Canada lynx) were removed from the state's proposed list of Species of Greatest Conservation Need in order to focus on extant species within the state, and that there were no plans by the DEC to reintroduce wolves, citing a lack of public and state support, funding, and personnel. They also highlighted that, even with all these factors, the type of wolves that would be brought in would be unknown, since records cite both the eastern wolf and red wolf as present in the state; the two canines have ongoing taxonomic discussions. DNA results of a canid killed near Cherry Valley in 2021 initially pointed to it being an eastern coyote, but a recent statement by the DEC confirms the animal was a wolf, with most of its ancestry matching wolves in Michigan; the DEC also has not confirmed or denied a breeding population within the state. Certain proponents of wolf recolonization state that wolves are already established in New York and New England, and have naturally dispersed from Canada by crossing the frozen St. Lawrence River.

On October 11, 2011, 5 Mexican wolves (2 males and 3 females) were released into Sonora's Madrean Sky Islands. Since then, Mexico's National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) has facilitated 19 wolf releases into the country. On March 9, 2022, two new breeding pairs of Mexican gray wolves were released into the wild in the state of Chihuahua in northern Mexico, bringing the total number of Mexican gray wolves in the country to around 45 wild individuals.

In Sweden and Norway, a long and ongoing conflict is happening between some groups whose belief it is that wolves have no place in human inhabited areas and those who wish the wolf to be allowed to expand out into more of the area’s vast boreal forests. The former mostly consists of members of the rural working class who fear competition for certain large ungulate species (roe deer, moose, etc. ), and who consider the wolf to be a foreign element. They argue that modern Scandinavian wolves are actually recent migrants from Russia and not the remnants of old native wolf packs. Scandinavian wolves had been nearly completely eliminated from the range due to extirpation campaigns in the 19th and 20th centuries, and were considered to be gone from the area by the 1960s. In the early 1980s, however, a single breeding pack was discovered in southern Sweden, over 1000 km away from the nearest known population in Russia or eastern Finland. The pack was small, about 10 animals, and it stayed that way for many years until its population began to noticeably increase starting in 1991. Prior to 1991, the small population lacked ideal genetic diversity, and inbreeding had been occurring to a potentially dangerous degree. Furthermore, low birth rates suggested that the wolves were apprehensive to mate with each other, which was most likely due to their close relation. Genetic data suggest that in 1991, a lone immigrant wolf from Russia migrated to the area and single handedly restored genetic diversity to the population. A study showed that of the 72 wolves born between 1993 and 2001, 68 of them could trace their genetic heritage to this lone migrant wolf. Today, over 100 individuals range across this southern area of Scandinavia. The population remains genetically isolated, however, which is a cause of concern for some, but reason to believe exists that as the number of wolves living in this area increases, the boundaries of the population's range will creep towards the ranges of other, separate populations in Finland, thus promoting dispersal. Direct reintroduction remains an intriguing option to foster genetic diversity in the Scandinavian population in the meantime. Speculation arose as to how the original population came to be in the early 1980s. Some believe that they might be a native species – remnants of a population that somehow survived persecution. Much genetic research has been performed on this population, however, and this particular theory is not supported by the findings. Genetic analysis seems to support the idea that the wolves were immigrants that had traveled over 1000 km from Russia to southern Scandinavia along one of several possible dispersal routes. Conspiracy theorists claim that they were artificially reintroduced by some secret agenda of the Swedish government.

In several areas in Europe, reintroduction of wolves to areas where they have become extinct is being actively considered. Charities in many European countries, including Denmark, Germany, Italy, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, are also advocating the reintroduction of wolves to specific rural and forested areas. Most plans have been met with a mixture of enthusiasm and unease by different population groups. Opponents fear the loss of livestock that may result from their reintroduction. In several countries, charity based compensation plans (similar to those that operate in the USA) have been proposed. The reintroduction of wolves to Scotland and England is currently being considered, along with bears and lynxes, as part of a larger effort to reintroduce native species to the country.