SILVER CITY – An endangered Mexican wolf has crossed from New Mexico into Chihuahua, Mexico, marking the first known movement in decades of a radio-collared wolf from the United States into Mexico.
The wolf, known as “Cedar,” crossed through a remote stretch of the Bootheel region in southern New Mexico, an area described by conservation advocates as the last remaining portion of the state’s southern border without a wall. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has begun work to extend border wall construction in the area where Cedar crossed.
Conservation groups say the crossing is significant because it could help connect Mexican wolf populations in the United States and Mexico. Wildlife advocates say movement between the two populations is important because Mexican wolves have critically low genetic diversity, and wolves from both sides of the border mating could strengthen the species’ long-term survival.
Cedar is an adult male born in Arizona to the Rocky Prairie Pack. He was named after spending about two weeks in New Mexico’s Cedar Mountains while traveling south. He is also the younger brother of Asha, a well-known female wolf that twice traveled north of Interstate 40 in New Mexico before eventually settling near the eastern edge of the Gila National Forest.
The Center for Biological Diversity and Western Watersheds Project say the crossing shows the importance of keeping wildlife corridors open between the United States and Mexico. They warn that additional border wall construction in the Bootheel could prevent future movement by wolves, jaguars and other wildlife.
Previous wolf movements across the border have been documented. In 2017, two wolves from Mexico separately crossed into the United States. In 2021, a wolf known as Mr. Goodbar reached the border near Las Cruces but was blocked by the wall and eventually returned north to the Gila National Forest.
In 2022, a pair of wolves from Mexico established a binational range in the Bootheel and nearby areas of Mexico. The male was later illegally killed, while the female was captured and released this month in Durango.
By John Krehbiel – Bravo Mic Communications – john@bravomic.com
