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Asha, the Mexican gray wolf from AZ, wanders into New Mexico again

Last year, an endangered Mexican gray wolf made headlines when she wandered into northern New Mexico.

She was captured and returned to Arizona, but reports say she is on the move again.

The wolf moved into the southern Rocky Mountains in New Mexico, far from any known wolf packs.

A group of schoolchildren named her Asha.

But to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which does not name animals, she remains 2745, a runaway that has left a recovery zone set aside for her species.

Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity says he can only speculate why she travels so far.

"Who knows what goes through a wolf’s mind, and her feelings and all of that, but the presumption is she’s trying to find a mate," Robinson said.

He says genetic diversity in Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico remains low.

Ron Dungan was a senior field correspondent at KJZZ from 2020 to 2024.