ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Conservationists are working to make sure the Mexican gray wolves does not need to be brought back from extinction.

Experts say they almost went extinct back in the 1970s, but decades of conservation and rehabilitation efforts are giving the wolves a fighting chance at survival.

The most recent data shows there’s at least 286 Mexican gray wolves living throughout New Mexico and Arizona right now. Conservationists say those numbers are expected to keep going up.

“This is a species to celebrate. This is angling towards a real success story for the Endangered Species Act,” said Greta Anderson, deputy director of the Western Watersheds Project.

Folks can find some captive Mexican gray wolves at the Albuquerque BioPark Zoo right now. But some new, wild packs will soon call the Duke City home – at least for a little while.

It won’t be long until the hum of construction equipment near Old Town is replaced by something a little more wild.

“We hope to have some thriving wolf packs, and having some night howls is part of a happy, healthy pack. So you know, you might be hearing some wolves here,” said Brandon Gibson, director of the Albuquerque BioPark.

Gibson says construction is well underway on a new, 5-acre Mexican gray wolf conservation center right behind the Botanic Gardens.

“We anticipate having space for wolves that are maybe in need of medical care, wolves that are getting ready to be reintroduced back into the wild, and also have breeding pairs of wolves and hopefully future litters,” said Gibson.

The $1.5 million project will include five different wolf habitats, each big enough to house an entire pack.

“They’re going to be able to be flexed together. So if we have smaller wolf packs, we’ll be able to open up more and more of that acreage for them to have just a thriving habitat,” Gibson said.

But don’t expect a front row seat to all that canine action.

“We want as limited human contact as possible. We want these wolves to be able to thrive in the wild, so limited public interaction is best,” Gibson said.

Construction is expected to wrap up by the end of the summer, giving the BioPark a bigger role in wolf recovery efforts.

“Mexican gray wolves were a species that were nearly brought to the brink of extinction through man’s actions, and now through our actions, we’re helping the species recover and thrive,” said Gibson.