Mexican Wolf

Mexican Wolf. Canis lupus baileyi.

Size: 18-30 inches at the shoulder , Weight: 70 to 90 lbs , Lifespan: up to 15 years , Habitat: mountain forests, grasslands and shrublands , Diet: elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer, also known to eat smaller mammals like javelinas, rabbits, ground squirrels and mice

, Status: , Mexican wolves once ranged across New Mexico, Arizona, west Texas, northern Mexico, and possibly as far north as southern Utah and Colorado. Since their reintroduction, the released wolves have established home ranges of about 50 to 400 square miles within the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area., Facts , The Mexican gray wolf, or "lobo" is the rarest, southernmost, and most genetically distinct subspecies of the North American gray wolf. There hasn't been a wild Mexican lobo sighted south of the border since 1980., The Mexican wolf is one of the rarest land mammals on earth., Several AZA-accredited zoos are involved in reintroducing these animals back into the wild. In hopes of re-establishing the subspecies to a portion of its historic range, 40 Mexican grey wolves have been reintroduced in the Apache National Forest in southeastern Arizona. Biologists use radio tracking methods to monitor and evaluate the population health of these animals.