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Buy Tickets Doubling Down on Mexican Wolf Conservation
Contributors: Kim Scott and Bailey Cadena
Lobo Week is coming, and we have a lot to celebrate here at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. We’re nearing completion on a brand-new Mexican wolf habitat that will be easily accessible from the main Zoo loop to make the incredible recovery story of the Mexican wolf more available and to provide much-needed space for wolves in the North American Zoo population. This added capacity for another pack will strengthen Cincinnati Zoo’s ability to support the Mexican wolf through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums-supported SAFE (Saving Animals from Extinction) Mexican Wolf Program.
Cincinnati Zoo has been actively involved in the Mexican wolf’s comeback story, which saw the species grow from seven individuals to around 700 today! Breeding and reintroduction efforts by the Cincinnati Zoo and 60+ other facilities over that last two plus decades have made a future for Mexican wolves possible!
For the last 10 years, the strategy to reintroduce Mexican wolves into their natural habitats in the United States has largely focused on the placement of new-born pups from zoos and other managed-care facilities into wild dens of wolf mothers with other pups. This method, referred to as “fostering”, introduces genetic diversity into the wild population and is less threatening to humans living alongside them than the introduction of an adult wolf.
Moving forward, the SAFE Mexican Wolf Program and the Cincinnati Zoo are expanding focus to also include the human dimensions of Mexican wolf conservation, prioritizing the livelihoods of communities living near the Mexican wolf. Conservation of Mexican wolves is not possible without the involvement of the human communities who live on and care for the landscapes that are also home to these wolves.
One way that Cincinnati Zoo and the SAFE Mexican Wolf Program are working toward this goal is by partnering with community-driven conservation organizations, like Fundación Tonkawa. The Fundación Tonkawa team emphasizes the importance of promoting a coexistence-based approach to conservation of the Mexican wolf.
Through the implementation of human-wildlife conflict intervention and the direct involvement of local communities in the monitoring of reintroduced wolf populations, Fundación Tonkawa is working to ensure that communities of wolves and people can continue to share the landscape in Chihuahua, Mexico for years to come. Their approach to conservation is underscored by empathy for wolves and ranchers, leading to community-driven strategies that promote capacity-building and stability for people while also supporting wild wolf populations. They build trust with the community by modeling transparency and honesty, share responsibility with ranchers and other environmental authorities, teach and learn from ranchers through workshops and presentations, and invest in workshops or activities that benefit the community, ranchers, and their families.
