Mexican Grey Wolf, Grupo Mexico

Few people know that Grupo Mexico has undertaken a comprehensive conservation program to save the Mexican gray wolf at Cananea, Sonora. While the grey wolf’s territory used to extend from the northeast of Veracruz and Michoacan to the west of Texas and south of Arizona and New Mexico, it is currently classified as extinct in the wild by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The current situation of the grey wolf is attributed to hunting by ranchers which consider it a threat for livestock. It is now estimated that there are only about 300 of these wolves kept in captivity.

Since the early 2000s, Grupo Mexico has provided financial support to the Ecological Center of Hermosillo, Sonora to bread grey wolves within their natural habitat. These efforts have led to the birth of a number of grey wolves, including the latest account in June 2013, which reported the birth of six grey wolves in the ecological reserve in the northwest region of Sonora. According to the director of the Ecological Commission of the state, Óscar Téllez, this event could not have happened with the support from Grupo Mexico. Furthermore, at the end of 2013, Grupo Mexico located the six wolf pups in the ecological reserve via a microchip and then transported them to a sanctuary in Cananea, which the company created for the wolves; the idea being that they will be taken care of to promote the survival of the species. At the sanctuary the wolves are given clinical attention including the monitoring of their life signals and the administration of vaccines. During their last clinical visit the wolves were dismissed as having excellent health.

All of these efforts have led the Mexican grey wolf to become the emblem species for Grupo Mexico. Apart from the funds, the company helps maintain the species through its PROFEPA authorized Environmental Management Unit which employs a certified zootechnician to take care of the wolves. These efforts are illustrate Grupo Mexico’s commitment to the environment. This is especially important given the investment that Grupo Mexico is placing on new projects such as the Angangueo mine, which is located within the buffering zone of the natural reserve of the monarch butterfly.