
Mexican Grey Wolf 2752, also known as Asha has been captured for a second time, after wandering outside of the designated recovery area.
Asha is a key part of the Mexican Grey Wolf Recovery project in Arizona and New Mexico.
This is actually not the first time that Asha’s adventurous spirit has gotten her in trouble. She was captured last year too before being brought back to where she started.
Now she has done it again. This time, instead of releasing her again, she will be kept in a management facility for the next year.
This decision is stirring up some conflict over what is actually best for her.
The fish and wildlife officials believe it is best for the success of the recovery project for her to stay in captivity for now, allowing her to mate and be released next year with her pups.
They make the point that this would add to the small Mexican wolf population numbers and hopefully keeping her from roaming too far off again.
They believe that her reason for traveling such distances is in search of a mate. Since there are no wild Mexican wolves in that area, her search is not worth the risk of possibly being mistaken for a coyote and shot.

Meanwhile many wildlife advocates believe that she has clearly expressed a desire to explore further north and should have the freedom to do so.
They question the validity of placing arbitrary boundaries on the territory of wild animals that are unaware of such restrictions.
References
https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2023-12/female-mexican-wolf-captured-and-paired-mate-captivity
https://www.westernwatersheds.org/2023/12/asha-the-roaming-mexican-gray-wolf-captured-in-new-mexico