The Mexican Gray Wolf is the rarest and most genetically distinct subspecies of gray wolf in North America. With the scientific name of Canis lupus spp. Baileyi, it is an endangered species who once inhabited mountainous areas, woodlands, and riparian habitats of the continent. Once common throughout these ecosystems of the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico, by 1980, they were all but eliminated from their natural habitat largely from hunting, trapping, and poisoning. The Mexican Gray Wolf is the smallest of the gray wolves in North America, with only a few hundred individuals left in captivity and the wild.

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has a long history with saving the endangered Mexican Gray Wolf, which includes some of the earliest breeding and population management of Mexican wolves held in human care. The Museum is also known for its participation in public meetings and advocacy for wolf reintroduction into the wild, as well as providing education on wolves in the Sonoran Desert. This work done by non-profits like the Desert Museum as well as federal and state agencies began established conservation programs and awareness campaigns that brought these wolves back from the brink of extinction, and as of 2022, at least 241 wolves have returned to the wild in the Southwest!

As a leader in naturalistic zoological exhibits, the Desert Museum has launched a campaign to create a new Mexican Gray Wolf exhibit on its grounds. Although the current Desert Museum Mexican Gray Wolf exhibit is adequate, we believe it should be world-class. Expectations of animal exhibits and holding spaces continue to move toward a more holistic approach to animal wellness and well-being, which incorporates an emphasis on keeping animals physically and psychologically healthy. This focus on animal mind-body well-being has prompted the Desert Museum to initiate exciting plans for a groundbreaking new wolf exhibit!

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum continues its campaign to create a new Mexican Gray Wolf Exhibit, and we need YOUR help!

Featuring the Desert Museum’s acclaimed naturalistic exhibitry, with a core focus on animal well-being, the cutting-edge new wolf exhibit will be nearly ten times the size of the current wolf habitat. It will feature elements that allow the wolves to interact more holistically with their environment and choose different areas to spend their time, which encourages them to exhibit the same behaviors that they would in the wild.

The planning and design for this exhibit has come a long way since we announced this special campaign last year. You can now envision the physical location for the new Mexican Gray Wolf exhibit situated just past the restaurant, as depicted here:

Guests will approach the habitat through a tunnel and emerge in the center of the habitat, surrounded by the wolves. This viewpoint, which will allow the wolves access on top of the tunnel where they can look down on us, flips the traditional approach to animal exhibits, and improves the well-being of the wolves by ensuring they are more comfortable with visitors. Native Sonoran Desert region plant species and large shade structures will be integrated into their new home. Interpretive features will tell the incredible conservation story of the Mexican gray wolf, from becoming extinct in the wild, to the role the Desert Museum played in their successful return to the wild in Arizona. As a visitor, you will have the opportunity to get up-close and personal with our wolves, as illustrated by this artist rendering.

Although we have begun exhibit design, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Desert Museum still needs to fundraise for $1.5M from our community to reach the $5M goal required to complete this crucial project for the endangered Mexican Gray Wolves.

Please join us in making the new Mexican Gray Wolf exhibit possible. The Desert Museum is one of the few zoological parks in the country that receives no regular annual tax support, so it relies entirely on generous community support to make special projects like this possible.

Donate today by selecting “New Wolf Exhibit” from the drop-down menu!

In December 2022, we welcomed three beautiful Mexican Gray Wolves from the Endangered Wolf Center in Missouri, to their home here at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. These gorgeous girls are also sisters – two are littermates, while the older one helped to raise the younger two. the Museum selected their names by popular vote from our social media audience, and announced their names as Estrella, Luna, and Sol. This bonded trio of sisters can be seen today in their current Mountain Woodland exhibit at the Museum, but their future habitat will be much more spacious!