A Mexican gray wolf, captured while wandering through northern New Mexico, will be returned to the established Mexican Wolf Experimental Project Area (MWEPA) to help her breed.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service captured the wolf tagged as f2754, also known as Asha, near Taos, ending a debate between those who thought Asha should be allowed to roam free and those who felt the wolf should be returned to the main area of repopulation in southern Arizona and New Mexico.

“As it is breeding season and there are no other known wolves in the area, there was a high likelihood of a negative interaction or breeding with domestic dogs,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson Aislinn Maestas said, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Since Jan. 9, [the wolf] showed no signs of returning to the MWEPA.”

The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish located Asha near Taos with a helicopter on Sunday, Jan. 22. She was initially held at the Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility near Socorro.  According to KRQE News and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the plan is to pair Asha with a male wolf and then send the pair to Mexico later this year.

Game and Fish officers said because the wolves have genes already represented in the MWEPA, in Arizona and New Mexico, they’ll be more helpful in establishing strong wolf populations in Mexico.