Across the United States, over 172 sports teams – from high school to college to professional – have a wolf as their mascot, according to the Mascot Database. While the University of New Mexico’s mascot is also a wolf, the Lobo has a unique history and connection to New Mexico.
UNM was founded in 1889, but for its first 30 years, the University had no official mascot. The sports teams were known only as “The University Boys” or “Varsities,” according to the UNM Traditions website.
In the fall of 1920, George S. Bryan, the student manager of the football team and editor of UNM Weekly – which would later become the Daily Lobo – suggested “Lobo” as the name and mascot of the teams.
The following issue of UNM Weekly read, "The Lobo is respected for his cunning, feared for his prowess, and is the leader of the pack. It is the ideal name for the Varsity boys who go forth to battle for the glory of the school. All together now; 15 rahs for the LOBOS."
In his first appearances, Lobo Louie was a live wolf pup, according to the UNM Traditions website. Bruno Dieckmann, a member of the class of 1902, allegedly acquired a gray wolf pup from a government trapper named Jim Young. Young caught the wolf pup on the Floyd Lee Ranch in western New Mexico.
Lobo Louie was taken care of by the cheerleading squad and brought to games in a harness and leash, according to the UNM Traditions website.
In the late 1920s, a child approached and provoked the wolf, prompting it to bite. The University was forced to “dispose of” Lobo Louie, “for fear other ill-bred brats might become tempted to play with the wolf and bring a damage suit,” as one unnamed historian said according to the UNM Traditions website.
Lobo Louie is not the only live animal mascot used by college sports teams. Some live mascots include domestic pets or livestock animals, such as “Smokey the Hound” at the University of Tennessee or “CAM the Ram,” a Rambouillet sheep, at Colorado State University.
Other schools use wild or exotic animals, like Louisiana State University’s “Mike the Tiger.” All eight of the tigers who have played Mike have died due to complications caused by their captivity, according to College Avenue.
After the live Lobo Louie was euthanized, UNM stopped using live animal mascots, according to the UNM Traditions website. In 1960, UNM introduced the Lobo Louie mascot suit. In the 1980s, the University introduced Louie’s counterpart in the red bow: Lobo Lucy.
The relationship between Louie and Lucy has long been a source of debate and confusion. Louie’s official X account states that he and Lucy are siblings, however, from 1999 to 2002, a baby Lobo mascot appeared, which some may have perceived as the duo’s child. Little record of the baby wolf character exists.
The situation of the real gray wolf has also changed since the 1920s. Five years prior to the adoption of the Lobo Louie pup as a mascot, private landowners in the southwestern United States, including New Mexico, began a concerted campaign to cull the Mexican gray wolf population using trapping and poisoning, as landowners feared wolves would disrupt cattle, according to the UNM Museum of Southwestern Biology.
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In 1973, the U.S. passed the Endangered Species Act, which included Mexican gray wolves on the list of protected, endangered species. By the late 70s, due to the culling measures of earlier decades, there were no Mexican gray wolves left in New Mexico, according to the UNM Museum of Southwestern Biology.
By 1982, a plan was approved to reintroduce Mexican gray wolves by utilizing captive breeding and re-releasing. As of 2023, at least 144 Mexican gray wolves lived in New Mexico, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Today, the original Lobo Louie is preserved in the UNM Museum of Southwestern Biology in its mammals department. He is available to view for the public via an appointment with divisional staff.
Addison Fulton is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com
