Mexican gray wolf Asha gives birth to litter of pups
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Asha, a Mexican gray wolf caught wandering around New Mexico in 2023, gave birth to her first litter in mid-May, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced.
Asha (wolf F2754) and her mate (wolf M1966) welcomed five Mexican wolf pups. She came to fame as a wandering wolf, making multiple trips outside the Mexican wolf recovery area. Asha was captured and paired with her mate at the Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility in New Mexico in December 2023 — a decision that some environmentalists disagreed with, saying it would have been better for the wolves to roam.
'Asha' the Mexican grey wolf featured in children's book
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said there are plans in place to release the full pack onto private land in New Mexico this summer.
The announcement of Asha's litter came just days before the Arizona Game and Fish Department reported that the Mexican wolf fostering efforts for 2025 wrapped up.
A total of 17 wolf pups were placed into wild dens across New Mexico and Arizona, six of which were fostered into a single den in Arizona and 11 into three different dens in New Mexico.
'The fostering program is achieving these goals faster than was predicted, with 21 of the 22 required fosters having reached breeding age,' Clay Crowder, assistant director with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, said in part in a news release. 'Also of note from the foster program is that we now have at least 13 fosters having produced 31 litters, all of which are important to contributing to the genetic health of the wild population. With these successes, we are approaching the criteria to begin evaluating potential downlisting of Mexican wolves.'
The Mexican wolf is listed as endangered, and efforts to grow the population have been ongoing since 1998 in the two southwestern states. A 2024 population survey revealed a minimum of 286 Mexican wolves were distributed across New Mexico and Arizona.
Fostering Mexican wolf pups from captivity into the wild helps manage the genetic diversity of the wild population and allows the pups to learn how to live successfully in the wild from an experienced pack, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Since 2016, a total of 146 fostered pups have been introduced into wild dens
The goal for 2025 was to place a larger number of pups into dens in Arizona, which was relatively successful, with twice as many pups going to Arizona compared to last year, the Arizona Game and Fish Department said in the news release.
Conservationists worry Mexican grey wolves could be threatened by cuts to recovery programs
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, and the Saving Animals From Extinction program collaborated on the fostering effort.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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