By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN

Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday that it will review the status of the troubled Mexican gray wolf to determine if it should be listed as an endangered species separate from other North American gray wolves.

Conservation groups filed two petitions last year, seeking a separate listing for the animal. A court settlement required the agency to issue a finding by the end of July. The decision was made public Tuesday in a notice that will be published in the Federal Register.

Conservationists have argued that a separate listing is biologically warranted, legally required and would result in stronger protections.

A subspecies of the gray wolf, the Mexican wolf was exterminated in the wild by the 1930s.

Reintroduction began in 1998 along the Arizona-New Mexico border, but the effort has been plagued by illegal shootings and complaints from ranchers who have lost cattle to wolves and environmentalists who criticize the way the federal government has managed the program.

Biologists had predicted a self-sustaining wild population of 100 wolves by now, but the latest count at the end of 2009 found 42.

Conservationists worry that the count will be lower at the close of 2010.

In its finding, the Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledged that the wild Mexican wolf population in New Mexico and Arizona has not been able to sustain itself because of high mortality rates, blamed largely on shootings and encounters with vehicles, as well as removal by wildlife managers.

The agency said the conservationists' petitions present substantial information indicating that listing the Mexican wolf as a subspecies may be warranted so it will conduct a one-year status review -- an in-depth look to decide if the wolf should be listed separately.

The Mexican wolf is facing extinction for a second time, said Nicole Rosmarino, the wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians, one of the groups that sought the separate listing. She pointed to three wolves that were found dead over the past month, including two that were shot.

"This animal desperately needs all the help it can get from the Fish and Wildlife Service," she said.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.