CATRON COUNTY, N.M. – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates there are only 162 Mexican gray wolves living in New Mexico right now.

Just this week, wildlife advocates revealed a third wolf – named Ella – ventured north of I-40, the northern border of their designated recovery zone, and was found dead a few days later.

It’s still not clear what happened there, but advocates say another wolf in this spot is a good sign the critically-endangered species is on a good path.

“They’re doing great. The population is increasing, pups are surviving. It’s, you know, we’re seeing their dispersal, which tells us that there’s healthy numbers and looking for new territories,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of the Western Watersheds Project. 

That’s just one way of looking at all of this. Ranchers throughout rural New Mexico will tell you they’re paying the price for all these extra wolves on the landscape, and they’re howling for help.

“I think there’s room on the landscape for wolves, but they’ve got to be managed,” said Audrey McQueen, a Catron County commissioner. 

Until they are, McQueen says ranchers in western New Mexico feel like they are prey.

“Just for Catron County residents, there was 11,152 calves gone, 307 cows and 31 bulls. And so for a county our size, that is a lot of money leaving our tax base and our producers,” McQueen said. 

But livestock is not the only concern anymore.

“We’ve got wolves coming into school yards, wolves in and around towns. There was just somebody on Monday that had they stopped on the side of the road to use the restroom. A wolf came right up to him,” said McQueen. “They’re just not afraid of humans.” 

Catron County commissioners are set to discuss a new disaster resolution Thursday to convince state leaders to help pay for wolf-caused damage.

“With the problems we’re facing right now, I just felt like we were backed against the wall,” McQueen said. 

However, data compiled by wildlife advocates shows Catron County received more than $660,000 in federal funding in 2024 to cover the cost of Mexican gray wolf killings.

McQueen says state lawmakers chipped in another $1.5 million over three years. But advocates say the data tells a different story.

“If you look at the numbers, you can see that depredations are actually going down. Fish and Wildlife Service in their five-year evaluation of the program attributed that to more of the proactive measures that people have been taken like employing range riders, that that’s helping to keep the depredations down,” said Anderson. 

But Catron County still wants help.

“By declaring a state of disaster, if the governor will sign it, or at least give us some funding where we can get more boots on the ground to help mitigate the problems,” said McQueen.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed zero reported Mexican gray wolf attacks on humans. Adding, their hazing operations are effective at keeping the wolves away from livestock.