Mexico’s National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (Conanp) has reaffirmed that the gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) will continue to be shielded under Mexican law, pushing back against a proposal attributed to former US President Donald Trump that would allow hunting of the species again in the United States.
The gray wolf is one of North America’s most endangered mammals. Decades of hunting and habitat loss nearly wiped it out on both sides of the border by the mid-20th century. Since the late 1990s, Mexico and the United States have run coordinated breeding and reintroduction programs, releasing wolves into the wild in the Sierra Madre Occidental region, which straddles states like Chihuahua and Sonora, in hopes of rebuilding a self-sustaining population that ignores international boundaries.
Conanp’s statement underscores that any change in US hunting policy would not alter Mexico’s own conservation commitments, meaning wolves that cross into Mexican territory would still be protected from hunting under domestic environmental regulations. The agency’s message comes amid concern from conservationists that loosening protections in the US could undermine years of binational recovery efforts and threaten the fragile progress made in growing the species’ numbers.
For the full details on Conanp’s position and the debate over the future of the gray wolf, check out the original report from La Jornada.
Source: Lobo gris seguirá protegido en México, reafirma Conanp tras propuesta de Trump para volver a cazarlo en EU (jornada.com.mx). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: USFWS Endangered Species, BY 2.0 (via Openverse).