A Colorado gray wolf that crossed into New Mexico was safely captured and transferred back into Colorado this week. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish was able to capture gray wolf 2403 in early December and transfer it to the care of Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
The gray wolf, which is part of the original Copper Creek Pack, was released in Grand County. CPW, when considering where to release the wolf, chose an area with an unpaired female, nearby natural prey populations and distance from livestock.
“We are grateful to our partners at the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish for their efforts to capture and return a member of Colorado’s gray wolf population,” said acting CPW Director Laura Clellan. “Gray wolf 2403 has been returned to Colorado and released in a location where it can best contribute to CPW’s efforts to establish a self-sustaining wolf population while concurrently attempting to minimize potential wolf-related livestock conflicts.”
Gray wolf 2403 was a member of the Copper Creek pack but dispersed from the pack in fall of 2025. “Our counterparts at the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish captured the wolf and returned it to Colorado to protect the Mexican wolf population,” CPW said in a press release.
State wildlife officials are not publicly disclosing any information about where the wolf was released in Grand County, but Parks and Wildlife commissioners and local stakeholders were informed.
The cross-state capture was conducted on New Mexico’s charge in compliance with a Memorandum of Understanding with Colorado, Arizona and Utah regarding the transfer of Colorado wolves when they cross state lines.
The multistate agreement establishes the dual intent that any gray wolves that leave Colorado — into Arizona, Utah or New Mexico — will be relocated back to the state and that any Mexican wolves that leave their nonessential experimental population area within Arizona and New Mexico will be relocated back to within the designated Experimental Area in southern Arizona/New Mexico.
“We recognized during the planning process that we would need to have consideration and plans to protect the genetic integrity of the Mexican wolf recovery program, while also establishing a gray wolf population in Colorado,” said CPW’s Wolf Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell. “This MOU is a demonstration of the proactive steps CPW and neighboring state wildlife agencies took during our planning and implementation processes. Ultimately, the intent is to aid with the success of our program here in Colorado while minimizing any adverse impacts on Mexican wolf recovery efforts in our neighboring states.”