Mexican Gray Wolf

The Mexican Gray Wolf or El Lobo - Canis lupus baileyi.

I have just attended a WildEarth Guardians Gala in Santa Fe, NM, to raise funds for reintroducing Mexican Gray Wolves to The Gila Wilderness in SW New Mexico.

At the end of the dinner, and as a complete surprise, a handler from the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary near Zuni Pueblo (also in SW NM) brought in on a lead this magnificent Mexican Gray Wolf. It is now 6 years old and was rescued by the sanctuary when it was 2 years old.

We cleared a space between the chairs and tables and it was brought through to a spot at the side of the stage. I could have touched it - it was so close. Of course I had my camera at the dinner, so I moved forward to within 2 metres of the wolf, and clicked off about 60 photos! I doubt I will ever get an opportunity like this again.

It was incredibly moving and exciting experience. I will never forget this experience.

At the end of the session, the handler walked the wolf back past me again, through the crowd, and stayed a while at the back of the venue until it was obvious the wolf but was getting a little stressed by the people wishing to get too close.

This is of course still a wild animal, although a social animal, and the guy with the strong lead kept a very tight rein on it for the whole time. I could not imagine such an occurrence similar to this in Australia, under our overly strict health and safety regulations in a public place, or private function.

The Gray Wolf is the only wolf indigenous to the Southwestern Deserts of USA. To give you an idea as to size, here are a few more details.
The Gray Wolf looks much like a very large German Shepherd, but it has a broader skull and longer ears. It is also more bushy-tailed, long-nosed and long-legged. This Gray Wolf looked lean and rangy and its size was much greater than I had imagined.

Wolf size varies with geographic locality. Adults males range from about 5 to 6.5 feet, from their nose to tip of their tail. They stand from 36 to 40 inches high at the shoulders and weigh from 100 to 175 pounds. That's big!