PHOENIX — The Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team has completed the annual population count and documented the population increased to a minimum of 319 at the end of 2025, which is up from the minimum count of 286 in 2024. This is a consistent growth pattern for more than a decade.
The importance of this data is that this moves the recovery program one step closer to getting to the point that will support the downlisting of the Mexican wolf and development of a 4(d) rule under the ESA (Endangered Species Act). Implementation of a 4(d) rule would add greater flexibility in implementing management actions intended to reduce conflict while continuing recovery of the subspecies to the point of delisting.
The goal of every recovery program is to use the best scientific criteria to recover a species so the species is no longer in need of protection under the ESA. The recovery criteria to support downlisting the Mexican wolf is an average of 320 wolves documented per year over a four-year period. Although that average has not been obtained, this number does trigger the timing where a downlisting would be justified. With a 4(d) rule, the states of New Mexico and Arizona would have more management authority than they currently have.
