Wildlife officials offer $100K for information related to death of protected Mexican wolf in Arizona

PHOENIX — Federal and state wildlife officials have offered a reward of up to $103,500 for information that leads to prosecution related to the death of an endangered Mexican Wolf in Arizona.

The wolf nicknamed “Hope” was found dead in the area of Forest Service Road 2058 and East Spring Valley Road northwest of Flagstaff on Nov. 7.

Officials have not released the cause of death as the incident remains under investigation. The death was not related to “agency management actions,” according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Mexican wolves were reintroduced to Arizona starting in 1998 after their disappearance from the wild in the American Southwest due to hunting, trapping and poisoning over fears they would prey on livestock. Lobos were listed on the Endangered Species Act in 1976, and a captive breeding program eventually led to their return to the wild.

Killing a lobo violates the Endangered Species Act and state law, which can result in criminal penalties of up to $50,000, up to one year in jail or a civil penalty of up to $25,000.

“When someone poaches an elk or kills the wrong species of deer, the Arizona Game and Fish Department immediately seeks help from the public to solve the crime and when the perpetrator is identified, the department takes action,” Sandy Bahr, director for Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter, said in a press release. “They have a trust responsibility for all of Arizona’s wildlife. We expect them to uphold that responsibility for Hope.”

Hope was documented outside the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area near Flagstaff this past summer. She was captured to attach a GPS collar and released in July.

Hope and another wolf had separated from the Tu Dil Hil pack, and efforts to capture the pair and locate them back inside the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area began in October.

The fellow wolf’s whereabouts are unknown.

“The territory she claimed north of Interstate 40 and outside of the official recovery area demonstrated that suitable and appropriate Mexican wolf habitat exists in northern Arizona,” Claire Musser, executive director at Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, said. “The federal and state agencies should be listening to what she had to say and allow wolves to become active agents in their recovery.”

Wolves that venture beyond the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area are still protected under federal law and cannot be harassed or hazed unless there is an active threat to human safety.

The Mexican wolf population in Arizona and New Mexico has grown for eight straight years, and the 2023 census revealed a minimum of 257 lobos distributed across the two states (144 in new Mexico, 113 in Arizona).

Fostering, the strategy of inserting captive-born pups into wild dens, has been a primary strategy to rebuild the population and improve genetic diversity, although the genetic health of the species has been a concern raised by environmental groups. A record 27 pups were fostered into eight dens last spring.

The species is still critically endangered as managers continue to make progress.

USFWS has offered up to $50,000, AZGFD up to $1,000 and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish up to $1,000. Non-governmental organizations and private individuals have added an additional $51,500 to the reward depending on the information provided and its effect on convicting an individual or individuals responsible.