Arizona GFD Study Clarifies Mexican Wolf Historical Range

By Ammoland Editor Joe Evans

PHOENIX, Ariz. -(Ammoland.com)- A recent peer-reviewed scientific paper reaffirmed the historical range of the endangered Mexican wolf as being southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico and the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico.

The paper was the featured article published in the July issue of The Journal of Wildlife Management, a leading international wildlife science journal.

The authors – each reputable experts in their respective fields – included a skull morphologist, internationally known geneticist and an Arizona Game and Fish Department biologist.

In the peer-reviewed paper, they use ecological, physiographic and morphological data to clarify the Mexican wolf’s historical range.

“Most sources prior to the mid-1990s were in agreement and defined the historical range of the Mexican wolf as southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico and portions of Mexico,” the paper states. “Of this historical range, 10 percent occurs in the United States and the remainder in Mexico.”

Historical data shows other subspecies of wolves roamed the Southwest, but each differed from the smaller, distinctive Mexican wolf, which was found in southern Arizona and New Mexico and southward deep into Mexico. The data also illustrate that Mexico is critical for wolf recovery, given that 90 percent of …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand