Editing Wolf (section)

=== North America ===
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[[File:Mexican Wolf 2 yfb-edit 1.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Photograph of a wolf running on a grassy plain with enclosing fence in background|Captive Mexican wolf at [[Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge]] in New Mexico, as part of [[Wolf reintroduction|reintroduction]]]]

In Canada, 50,000–60,000 wolves live in 80% of their historical range, making Canada an important stronghold for the species.<ref name=Paquet2003/> Under Canadian law, [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] people can hunt wolves without restrictions, but others must acquire licenses for the hunting and trapping seasons. As many as 4,000 wolves may be harvested in Canada each year.{{sfn|Mech|Boitani|2003|pp=321–324}} The wolf is a protected species in national parks under the [[Canada National Parks Act]].<ref name=Justice2019/> In Alaska, 7,000–11,000 wolves are found on 85% of the state's {{cvt|1,517,733|km2}} area. Wolves may be hunted or trapped with a license; around 1,200 wolves are harvested annually.<ref name=Alaska2019/>

In the [[contiguous United States]], wolf declines were caused by the expansion of agriculture, the decimation of the wolf's main prey species like the American bison, and extermination campaigns.<ref name=Paquet2003/> Wolves were given protection under the [[Endangered Species Act]] (ESA) of 1973, and have since returned to parts of their former range thanks to both natural recolonizations and [[History of wolves in Yellowstone#Re-introduction (1995–present)|reintroductions in Yellowstone and Idaho]].<ref name=FWS2007/> The [[repopulation of wolves in Midwestern United States]] has been concentrated in the [[Western Great Lakes forests|Great Lakes]] states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan where wolves number over 4,000 as of 2018.<ref name=USFWGreatLakes/> Wolves also occupy much of the northern Rocky Mountains region and the northwest, with a total population over 3,000 as of the 2020s.<ref name=WildWolfUS/> In Mexico and parts of the southwestern United States, the Mexican and U.S. governments collaborated from 1977 to 1980 in capturing all Mexican wolves remaining in the wild to prevent their extinction and established captive breeding programs for reintroduction.<ref name=Nie2003/> As of 2024, the reintroduced [[Mexican wolf]] population numbers over 250 individuals.<ref name=Mexicanwolf/>