A lone female gray wolf is “exploring” southeast Colorado. Colorado Parks and Wildlife released the newest wolf activity map, showing one wolf venturing as far as southern Pitkin County, near Custer County, sometime in the past month.
CPW says the female wolf is the only wolf in that particular watershed. As part of the reintroduction of gray wolves into Colorado, state officials and wolf experts have noted that wolves are expected to explore and travel widely.
“Simply because a watershed indicates wolf activity, it does not mean that a wolf or wolves are present throughout the entire watershed nor that they are currently in the watershed,” CPW stated.
The second wolf translocation was completed on Jan. 19, with 15 wolves captured from British Columbia, Canada, and released in Eagle and Pitkin counties. The five remaining members of the Copper Creek Pack were also rereleased back into the wild, this time with GPS collars.
This second operation brings Colorado’s total number of wolves up to 29. This number, CPW said, may change with migrating wolves from other states and new pups born.
As wolves begin to move to new areas of the state, CPW has expanded and improved capabilities for producers through the Conflict Minimization program that CPW said will allow for faster response to conflicts and higher likelihood of effective non-lethal responses. The revamped program, CPW said, will use improved strategies for altering depredation behavior in wolves and reduce the potential for repeated livestock depredations.
The last confirmed case of livestock depredation from a wolf occurred Sept. 9, 2024, in Grand County.
The Middle Park Stockgrower’s Association filed a petition with CPW to halt this latest release, but that petition was denied by the CPW Commission.
The public can register for the Non-lethal Wolf Conflict Reduction Training on Feb. 12 in Buena Vista. The main focus is to help educate the public and producers on effectively handling encounters with wolves. Colorado Department of Agriculture, CPW, APHIS Wildlife Services and Colorado State University Extension lead the interagency training session.
Anyone claiming to see wolves in their area is asked to fill out a wolf sighting form, especially if they have photos or videos, in order to better understand whether a sighting is credible. The credibility of a sighting will allow CPW to determine the level of investigation needed.