Female Mexican gray wolf released into wild in Arizona in move to help wolf’s recovery

By ANITA SNOW
Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says a female Mexican gray wolf has been returned to the wilds of Arizona after she was found wandering in northern New Mexico outside a zone created for recovery of her subspecies. The wolf had traveled more than 500 miles and was northbound into the southern Rocky Mountains of New Mexico in January when the wildlife service captured her outside the recovery area. Environmentalists say the zone is arbitrary and that the animals should be able to roam freely, potentially introducing them to other wolves for breeding and increase their genetic diversity.