The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to strip federal protections from two wolf species in the United States: the Mexican gray wolf and the gray wolf. According to reporting from Mexican newspaper La Jornada, the move would pave the way for hunting these animals, which have long been shielded under endangered species safeguards.
Officials are framing the policy shift as a form of support for American ranchers, many of whom have complained for years that wolf populations pose a direct threat to their cattle and other livestock. Removing the protected status would allow ranchers and hunters in affected states to legally kill the wolves, reversing decades of conservation efforts.
Both wolf species have deep significance for wildlife conservation in North America. The Mexican gray wolf, known as “el lobo” in the borderlands region spanning the US Southwest and northern Mexico, was once nearly wiped out and has been the subject of binational reintroduction programs. The broader gray wolf population across the US has also been protected under the Endangered Species Act in various states, with protections expanding and contracting depending on political administrations.
Conservationists are likely to oppose any rollback, arguing it could undo years of recovery work for a species that nearly went extinct in the wild. For the full details on this developing story, read the original report at jornada.com.mx.
Source: Trump planea retirar protección del lobo mexicano y del lobo gris para permitir cazarlos en "apoyo a ganaderos de EU" (jornada.com.mx). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: cygnus921, BY 2.0 (via Openverse).