New Mexico mammals

Gray Wolf in New Mexico

Canis lupus

Native to New Mexico S1 Critically Imperiled in New Mexico

Not listed as nonindigenous in New Mexico by USGS NAS; native to its New Mexico range.

IUCN Red List status

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Photo: Robbie Hannawacker · CC0Silver-gray wolf walking along a gravel bank in AlaskaPhoto: Alejandro Santillana · CC0A pale, cream-phase wolf on the move in Yellowstone. Coat color spans cream to coal black.Photo: Piotr Lukasik · CC BY 4.0A black-phase wolf in a Yellowstone meadow at last light.Photo: mefisher · CC0A wolf beds down in open grassland, tail tucked alongside.Photo: Norma Malinowski · CC BY 4.0A gray wolf in winter coat. From the front, the wide head and short rounded ears are unmistakable.

Cream-colored gray wolf walking through dry grass with its mouth open — Photo: Robbie Hannawacker · CC0Silver-gray wolf walking along a gravel bank in AlaskaPhoto: Alejandro Santillana · CC0A pale, cream-phase wolf on the move in Yellowstone. Coat color spans cream to coal black.Photo: Piotr Lukasik · CC BY 4.0A black-phase wolf in a Yellowstone meadow at last light.Photo: mefisher · CC0A wolf beds down in open grassland, tail tucked alongside.Photo: Norma Malinowski · CC BY 4.0A gray wolf in winter coat. From the front, the wide head and short rounded ears are unmistakable.

Gray Wolf in New Mexico, by the numbers

Common in New Mexico 33rd most recorded of 176 mammals logged in New Mexico

854 occurrence records

17 with iNaturalist photos

May 18, 2026 Last seen in New Mexico

Records from 2000–2026.

854 total records count every New Mexico occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 844 records with a full observation date.

Field encounter

Where and when you're most likely to encounter a Gray Wolf

Most active: New Mexico, in June to July.

Where: New MexicoNM
When: June to July

Observe from a distance and give it room. Never approach, corner, or feed one.

When to be most aware of the Gray Wolf in New Mexico

Most sightings fall in June to July.

844 New Mexico occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly New Mexico records (table)

Month	Records
January	58
February	68
March	48
April	50
May	48
June	104
July	127
August	59
September	32
October	59
November	78
December	113

Monthly gray wolf occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in New Mexico, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in New Mexico, with recorded sightings peaking in June–July, with a smaller rise in November–December.

Occurrence map

Where Gray Wolf has been recorded in New Mexico

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 New Mexico records mapped

Where gray wolf encounters are recorded

Park, forest, or monument	iNaturalist records
Living Desert State Park	24
State Trust Land	8
Organ Mountains - Desert Peaks National Monument	1
Elephant Butte Lake State Park	1
Lincoln National Forest	1
Sandia Mountain Wilderness	1
Gila National Forest	1

Protected places with the most gray wolf records, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, where encounters are most often recorded, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total. Keep your distance and never approach one.

Where it's recorded in New Mexico

County	Records
Socorro County	367
Bernalillo County	140
Sierra County	96
Catron County	54
Sandoval County	43
Eddy County	36
Hidalgo County	23
Rio Arriba County	14
McKinley County	13
Otero County	13
Santa Fe County	12
Doña Ana County	10
12 other counties	33

The complete county distribution, spread across 24 New Mexico counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Subspecies in New Mexico

Gray wolves in southwestern New Mexico are part of the reintroduced Mexican wolf population (Canis lupus baileyi), centered in the Gila region.

Every gray wolf recorded in New Mexico today belongs to the reintroduced Mexican wolf population (Canis lupus baileyi), restored to Gila National Forest and the surrounding Mogollon Mountains and Blue Range Wilderness starting in the late 1990s. The recovery area straddles the Arizona border, so it’s a shared, cross-state population rather than one confined to New Mexico alone.

New Mexico’s wolf records look surprisingly dense for a species NatureServe ranks critically imperiled (S1) in the state, but that reflects the intensive radio-collar tracking biologists run on every known pack, not a large or growing population.

Records rise in early summer and again in December, months that likely line up with denning surveys and winter tracking flights more than any real shift in wolf numbers.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist.

Gray Wolf in other states

View all states →

Full species profile Gray Wolf Canis lupus Size 1.1–1.6 m3.4–5.2 ft Weight 23–80 kg50.7–176.4 lb Lifespan Up to 20.6 yr View the full profile

More mammals in New Mexico in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"