Donald Trump signed an executive order to eliminate endangered species protection for the gray wolf and a subspecies, the Mexican wolf.
The US president’s decision could pave the way for herders to kill canines to protect their livestock. His order said ranchers played a “vital role” in the food supply chain and American cultural heritage.
But conservation groups have criticized the move, saying it could derail long-term efforts to recover endangered wolf populations.
In 2025, there were 319 Mexican wolves in the wild in the United States, compared to just four when they were reintroduced in 1998, figures from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) show.
Meanwhile, there are approximately 18,000 gray wolves across the United States, although they are still considered endangered as most of their habitat has been destroyed by humans.
An attempt to delist them at the federal level in 2022 has been mired in litigation, and some activists have indicated they intend to do the same with U.S. Department of the Interior laws at Trump’s direction.
The executive order does not give ranchers immediate license to shoot wolves that prey on livestock, but instead gives Interior Secretary Doug Burgum 90 days to determine whether Mexican and gray wolf populations have recovered enough to warrant removal from the endangered species list.
Noting that American cattle herds were at their lowest level in 75 years, while demand for beef had increased 10% in the last decade, the order added: “More can and must be done to support this critical industry.”
However, environmental groups pointed to studies that suggested wolf attacks on livestock were rare and had little impact on ranchers’ income.
“This is a huge distraction to placate a handful of ranchers and make them believe that wolves are a bigger threat than President Trump’s own policies,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of the Western Watersheds Project, which works to conserve wildlife in the western U.S. states.
The Wolf Conservation Center noted that under the current system, ranchers were entitled to up to 100% compensation for any livestock losses caused by wolves, and that individual states provided funding for programs to deter attacks.
“The Mexican gray wolf is not recovering simply because the population has increased,” said Claire Musser, executive director of the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. “Weakening federal protections now would put decades of recovery work at risk.”
The executive order comes as the Trump administration seeks to reduce record high beef prices for consumers. driven by drought and a parasite outbreak in US beef stocks.
Ranchers have been frustrated by Trump’s decision to relax restrictions on beef imports to deal with price increases, putting pressure on their already tight margins.
The US government launched a campaign to systematically exterminate wolves in the late 19th century. This, along with farmers and landowners trapping and killing wolves, brought them to the brink of eradication.
Ranchers still view them as a nuisance, and lethal tackling is a federal crime.
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