What changes were made to the status of the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act?
We (the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) changed the classification of the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act from endangered to threatened in portions of the lower 48 states. We also removed the gray wolf from the list of endangered and threatened species in areas of the country that are outside the gray wolf’s historical range. We made these changes because gray wolves have successfully increased their numbers and range to such an extent that the “endangered” classification is no longer appropriate in most of their range. Also, gray wolves were incorrectly listed as endangered in the southeastern U.S. The species never occurred in those states, so we removed Endangered Species Act protections in those areas. We also established three “Distinct Population Segments” (DPS) for the gray wolf that encompass the entire historical range of the gray wolf in the lower 48 states and Mexico. The DPSs correspond to the three areas of the country where there are wolf populations and ongoin
