A gray wolf was photographed on the Monte Vista Wildlife Refuge this past weekend. The wolf sighting was confirmed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
“We did confirm the sighting of a lone female wolf that was photographed on the Monte Vista refuge,” said Colorado Parks and Wildlife southwest public information officer John Livingstone. “That individual has since moved on and is no longer in the immediate area.”
Livingstone didn’t reveal any more details about the wolves current whereabouts, but he said it was a GPS-collared wolf that was brought in from British Columbia last winter. CPW, as a policy, doesn’t comment on the current movements of wolves outside its monthly Gray Wolf Activity Map.
A FaceBook post from local photographer Rick Dunnahoo has been circulating around some of the Valley’s social media sites. An email was sent to Dunnahoo to ask about his experience photographing the wolf, but a reply hadn’t been received at the time of publication.
The Monte Vista Wildlife Refuge will be a popular spot in the coming days as birders and photographers flock to get a view of the annual Sandhill Crane migration.
This most recent wolf sighting is the second confirmed on the Valley floor. Collared female wolf 2516 had traveled through the Valley after the beginning of the new year.
When Colorado began reintroducing gray wolves in December 2023, the animals were set north of Interstate 70. Wolves follow prey through and over watersheds, so this broad movement was expected by wildlife officials. When it comes to wolves crossing state lines, that is dealt with differently. As wolves move through Colorado, following elk populations and setting up packs and producing pups, they don’t recognize manmade borders or boundaries.
Livestock producers have been on edge since the reintroduction began. Cattle production accounts for billions of dollars in commodity production every year. It’s also the largest part of Colorado’s $46 billion agriculture industry. Ranchers and livestock producers have been working with CPW on deterrents in the event of a wolf preying on livestock. CPW handles depredation on a case-by-case basis, but officials are working on proactive methods to prevent future wolf kills on livestock.
Livingstone said that CPW continues to encourage livestock producers in the San Luis Valley and across Colorado to contact CPW if they have not yet had a site assessment of their operations.
CPW staff are available to perform these site assessments with livestock producers to identify opportunities for wolf conflict minimization tools and resources that could be viable in their operations. For those interested in those site assessments in the Valley, they can call the CPW office in Monte Vista at 719-587-6900.
“CPW managers did inform all nearby livestock producers when this wolf was in the area as well as county officials and sheriffs,” Livingstone said.
