The wolf's pelt and other products are very valuable making it the target of hunters and trappers.
The killing of livestock by wolves causes them to be regarded as a pest by livestock keepers.
Two "experimental populations" of gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains of the United States have fared extremely well since reintroduction efforts began in 1995, in both the Yellowstone region and wilderness areas of central Idaho. By the spring of 1998 well over 100 wolves were reshaping ecological relationships in areas from which they had been extirpated more than half a century earlier. In the spring of 1999, about 60 pups were born in the Yellowstone area, and 60 to 65 in central Idaho.
Canis lupus once roamed most of the northern hemisphere, it is now found only in Canada, northern USA, Eastern Europe, and wilder areas of Western Europe and Asia. Northern boreal and coniferous forests, as well as open brushy areas in mountains and high elevations are its preferred habitat. It is not found in tropical forests or in arid deserts.
Other language names: Lobo - Spanish; Loup - French; Wolf - German
After near extinction, Greenland's wolves have repopulated themselves. The last wolves were extinct in the British Isles by the 1700's. By the 20th century, wolves disappeared from most of western Europe and Japan. Remnants of wolf populations exist in Poland, Scandinavia, Russia, Portugal, Spain, and Italy.
The grey wolf is considered as "Extinct in the Wild" in Mexico, as "Lower Risk" sub-category "conservation dependent" in Spain and Portugal and as "Vulnerable" in Italy. CITES lists the species as "Appendix 2" except for the populations in Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan which are listed as "Appendix 1".