ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Environmentalists are calling on the U.S. government to list coyotes as endangered in parts of Arizona and New Mexico where the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America is found. The Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife and the Wolf Conservation Center submitted a petition Thursday to U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, stating that small statured Mexican gray wolves are often mistaken for coyotes and that protecting coyotes would in turn cut down on wolf deaths. “These wolves are critically endangered and they’re facing a lot of threats,” said Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Protecting coyotes is an important step to help ensure their survival.” Robinson said that coyotes and Mexican gray wolves are often mistaken for one another, and that coyotes are often shot in areas where wolves live, leading to the death of wolves as well. “The Fish and Wildlife Service has the authority to protect coyotes in the same areas where wolves live, and we’re asking them to do that,” Robinson said. The Fish and Wildlife Service has 90 days to respond to the petition. If the agency finds that the petition has merit, it will begin a process to determine whether the coyotes should be protected as an endangered species.