US President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday ordered a review of endangered species protections for wolves, prompting strong criticism from conservationists who warned that the move could put the predators’ recovery at risk.
Under an executive order intended to help cattle ranchers address livestock losses, Trump gave Interior Secretary Doug Burgum 90 days to determine whether the gray wolf and Mexican wolf have met the recovery criteria required for delisting or downlisting under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), reports AFP.
If the secretary determines that the recovery criteria have been met, he has been directed to begin the delisting process.
The order also calls for Burgum and other officials to meet with state authorities following such a determination and encourage them to adopt similar measures and ease standards governing the killing of wolves.
At an Oval Office event with ranchers, Trump appeared uncertain about the immediate effect of the order and asked, “But you can shoot them as of today?” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins corrected him, laughing and saying: “Secretary Burgum has to do a little magic.”
At least a quarter of a million wolves are believed to have once inhabited areas stretching from coast to coast in the United States. European settlers later launched eradication campaigns that continued into the 20th century.
During his first term, Trump removed gray wolves from the endangered species list but did not delist the more endangered Mexican wolves, although Friday’s executive order referred to both species.
Former president Joe Biden’s administration fought in court to maintain the Trump-era delisting of gray wolves but ultimately lost in 2022, leading to the policy being reversed.
The Wolf Conservation Center estimates that around 7,600 gray wolves live in the contiguous United States. The Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team estimates that there were 317 Mexican wolves at the end of 2025.
Ben Greuel, wildlife campaign manager at the Sierra Club, described the latest move as a cynical attempt to appease cattle ranchers who were angered by the administration’s decision to temporarily increase lower-tariff beef imports.
“Trump is putting gray wolves and Mexican wolves in the crosshairs to placate the backlash caused by his own beef import policies,” he said. “Turning wolf protections into political damage control will do nothing to lower grocery bills or help families struggling with the cost of living.”
Conservationists have also pointed out that ranchers are already eligible for compensation for livestock losses caused by wolves through state and federal programmes. The federal programme covers up to 100 per cent of confirmed kills under the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Trump’s administration in July finalised three rules that weaken the landmark Endangered Species Act.
One of the changes rescinded the longstanding definition of “harm”, which had included habitat destruction. Another removed a rule that automatically extended endangered species protections to species classified as “threatened”.
The third change requires the government to weigh economic and national security trade-offs when deciding whether to designate an area as “critical habitat”.
