Lesson 10:Saving the Mexican Wolves

IntroductionFor hundreds of years, the howls of the Mexican gray wolfpierced the starry nights of the American Southwest. Packs ofthese wolves roamed the high woodlands of what is now Arizona,New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico. Members of a pack huntedtogether, raised their young, and helped to maintain the delicatebalance of nature. Just 150 years after Europeans settled theSouthwest, the Mexican wolf was on the brink of extinction. Bythat time, it had disappeared entirely from the United States.Thanks to the efforts of conservationists, today severalpacks of wolves roam a small section of their former habitat onceagain. But now they must share this space with people. Themodern world has brought highways, homes, ranches, andlivestock such as sheep and cattle to this once-wild region.Living near humans is not easy for wolves.The Mexican wolf’s story is a complicated one. It is a storyin which the needs of wolves and the needs of people are sometimespitted against each other. It’s a storythat makes people wonder whetherit is even possible for wolvesand humans to coexist.To understand thisstory, we must firstunderstand the rareMexican wolf.2