wolfhavenintl:Lobo week, Life in the wild: HabitatThousands of years of environmental pressures have

wolfhavenintl:

Lobo week, Life in the wild: Habitat

Thousands of years of environmental pressures have made of the Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) the most distinctive subspecies of the gray wolf. As the southernmost representative of the species, the Mexican wolf has historically inhabited the major mountain ranges from the U.S. Southwest to Central Mexico, which are covered with a great variety of vegetation types ranging from subalpine forests to semi-desert shrub and grasslands. In here, Mexican wolves find shelter, water, and prey, making the most of this diverse habitat that is their home.

- Image 1: Gila National Forest, territory for several Mexican wolf packs in New Mexico. USFWS photo.
- Image 2: A radio-collared wolf from the Hawk’s Nest pack traveling a burned woodland in the Apache National Forest, Arizona. AZGFD photo.

It is Lobo week again (March 28 - April 3, 2021). The Mexican wolf was almost completely exterminated by the 1970s. A captive breeding program gave “el lobo” the chance to retake their natural place in their home and, in March of 1998, USFWS released 11 Mexican wolves in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area within the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area in the U.S. Southwest.