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Tag: colorado wolf

  • A Colorado gray wolf that wandered into New Mexico has been re-released in Grand County

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    DENVER — A gray wolf from the controversial Copper Creek pack that wandered into New Mexico has been captured and re-released in Grand County on Thursday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said.

    CPW cited proximity to an unpaired female gray wolf, the presence of natural prey and distance from livestock as reasons for choosing Grand County for the wolf’s release. The agency didn’t provide any specifics about the release location, or where New Mexico Department of Fish and Game officials captured the wolf.

    Wolf movement maps from October and November showed wolf activity in watersheds close to the New Mexico border – and near the Front Range.

    “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,” acting CPW Director Laura Clellan said in a news release. “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.”

    As part of its voter-mandated wolf reintroduction, Colorado has a memorandum of understanding with the neighboring states of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico that requires any wolf that crosses into those states will be returned. Likewise, Mexican gray wolves that leave Arizona and New Mexico will be returned to their designated areas as part of those states’ Mexican gray wolf recovery efforts.

    The Copper Creek pack’s existence was confirmed in June of 2024 in Grand County. Months later, all but one wolf from the pack was captured and relocated after a series of livestock attacks, but the controversy surrounding the pack didn’t stop.

    In May, CPW officials shot and killed one of the wolves it said was responsible for four livestock depredations in an eight-day span. The lone uncaptured wolf is believed to be to blame for a string of sheep attacks in Rio Blanco County this summer.

    The pack was the subject of a special CPW commission meeting in July, in which the commission opted not to direct CPW to take any action on the wolf pack for the time being.

    CPW is planning a third round of gray wolf reintroductions in January 2026.

    Denver7 has been following Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program since the very beginning, and you can explore all of that reporting in the timeline below. The timeline starts with our most recent story.

    Denver7 in-depth wolf coverage

    The below list outlines an overview of the known wolf population in Colorado:

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    Landon Haaf

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  • New maps show wolves have explored areas close to metro area, including SE Boulder County, northern Jeffco

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    DENVER — GPS-collared gray wolves in Colorado have been recorded in areas close to the Denver metro area and Boulder, including southeast Boulder County and northern Jefferson County.

    According to the latest wolf movement map released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Wednesday afternoon, the wolves have been moving near the northwest metro area up toward Boulder and appear closer than ever to the Front Range.

    The below map shows watersheds outlined in purple. If it is filled in, it means that at least one collared wolf was within the boundaries for some amount of time between Oct. 21 and Nov. 25. It does not indicate that the wolves are still there.

    Colorado Parks and Wildlife

    Denver7 zoomed in on the area around the metro to show the watersheds that wolves have entered.

    CPW wolf map zoom in Oct-Nov 2025

    Colorado Parks and Wildlife

    It is unknown if the movements recorded around this area were made by one wolf or multiple, or if they are still in the area or have moved away.

    Since the May 2023 approval of the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, CPW has said that wolves are expected to expand widely over the years, including to the Front Range.

    Two previously released wolf movement maps showed wolves nearing the Front Range — March-April 2025 and May-June 2025 — however the animals did not appear to be exploring the Front Range as much there. Those maps are below.

    These two maps show wolf movements between March-April and May-June 2025, where the animals explored close to the Front Range.

    Colorado Parks and Wildlife

    These two maps show wolf movements between March-April and May-June 2025, where the animals explored close to the Front Range.

    In addition, wolves were detected near tribal lands in Colorado. CPW has a memorandum of understanding with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, the agency said, and it addresses the potential impacts of the wolf reintroduction program on the reservation and Brunot Treaty Area in southwest Colorado.

    CPW encourages anybody who has seen a wolf to alert CPW through a form on its website here. It said photos and videos are helpful, and if you are recording a paw print, place an item next to it for size comparison. Coyotes are often mistaken as gray wolves, but the latter are about twice the size and have much larger paw prints — typically 5-inch long front paws and 4-inch long back paws.

    Wolf vs coyote paw prints and size

    Colorado Parks and Wildlife

    This screenshot of a CPW pamphlet shows the differences between gray wolves and coyotes.

    CPW is planning a third round of gray wolf reintroductions in January 2026.

    This is a developing story and will be updated.

    Denver7 has been following Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program since the very beginning, and you can explore all of that reporting in the timeline below. The timeline starts with our most recent story.

    Denver7 in-depth wolf coverage

    The below list outlines an overview of the known wolf population in Colorado:

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  • Wolf pup sighting: Colorado biologists confirm first successful wolf reproduction since 2023 reintroduction

    Wolf pup sighting: Colorado biologists confirm first successful wolf reproduction since 2023 reintroduction

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    GRAND COUNTY, Colo. — Just a few days after Colorado biologists confirmed a female wolf was likely denning in Grand County — an encouraging sign of possible reproduction — Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) announced they had spotted a wolf pup at the den site.

    The pup sighting came with more news: Because a pair had reproduced, Colorado is now home to an official wolf pack. CPW said it has been dubbed the Copper Creek Pack. It’s the first confirmed wolf pack, and first wolf pup, in Colorado since the reintroduction in December.

    Reid DeWalt, CPW’s assistant director of aquatic, terrestrial, and natural resources, explained during a June 13 CPW Commission meeting that biologists had confirmed a den, but had not yet seen any wolf pups. However evidence — including GPS collar data — has shown a male and female wolf that seemed to be denning, which indicates reproduction in wolves. CPW biologists were tipped off about the reproduction when the female’s GPS collar stopped uploading data in early April and then resumed a few weeks later, but stayed within a small area.

    Environment

    CPW confirms wolf den in Colorado, but has not yet seen pups

    1:21 PM, Jun 13, 2024

    On June 18, a few days after the CPW Commission meeting, biologists confirmed one wolf pup during their routine wolf monitoring efforts, which has included attempted observations from the air and ground, remote cameras, public sightings and more.

    “We are continuing to actively monitor this area while exercising extreme caution to avoid inadvertently disturbing the adult wolves, this pup, or other pups,” said CPW Wildlife Biologist Brenna Cassidy.

    Wolves typically breed in the late winter and give birth to four to six pups on average in the spring, so CPW said it is possible the den is holding more pups. CPW plans to continue to monitor the den to determine the litter size and monitor the new pack.

    CPW will also work with local landowners to reduce any potential conflicts.

    More Denver7 wolf reintroduction coverage

    CPW did not have any photos or videos to share of the spotted wolf pup as of this article’s publishing time.

    Wolves typically give birth in April at a den, where the pups spend their first couple months of life. This is the same time that wild ungulates, like deer and elk, also give birth, so adult wolves can go after easier prey. When the wolf pups reach about eight weeks, the adults will move the pups to something called “rendezvous areas,” which are similar to dens, but are more of a general shape at a fixed location where the pups can grow up and interact with the rest of the pack. These rendezvous areas have access to water, cover and lack of disturbances.

    Over the following months, pups will begin to travel farther from the home site with the adult wolves.

    Wolf pup survival rates vary, but CPW said about half, or slightly more than half, of pups make it past one year.

    Wild wolves survive about three to four years in the wild, though captive ones can live beyond 10 years, CPW said.

    In Jackson County, a wolf pair, which had traveled from Wyoming into Colorado naturally, mated and gave birth to a six-pup litter in 2021. It was the first known wolf litter to call Colorado home since the 1940s.

    Watch Denver7’s exclusive story on how the state’s wolf conflict coordinator and ranchers have found common ground protecting livestock.

    Colorado’s wolf conflict coordinator and ranchers work to find common ground

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  • Collar GPS data indicates some gray wolves have moved into eastern Moffat County, CPW confirms

    Collar GPS data indicates some gray wolves have moved into eastern Moffat County, CPW confirms

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    MOFFAT COUNTY, Colo. — Two of Colorado’s recently released gray wolves have traveled from western Routt County into eastern Moffat County, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) said Saturday, pointing to recent data from the animals’ GPS collars.

    This was first reported by Steamboat Radio on Saturday.

    As part of the state’s voter-mandated reintroduction effort, CPW released its first five gray wolves on Dec. 18 at an undisclosed place in Grand County. Five more were released a few days later in Grand and Summit counties. All 10 had GPS collars. No additional wolves will be released this season, which runs until mid-March, wildlife officials said.

    Denver7 360 | In-Depth News, Opinion

    Grand County residents brace as gray wolf reintroduction process begins

    9:34 PM, Jan 02, 2024

    Rachael Gonzales with CPW confirmed with Denver7 that the wolves’ location points are collected every four hours at most. The data is downloaded every 16 hours.

    “Wolves can and do move substantial distances between the four hours that points are collected, and the terrain and weather can impact when points are received,” she said. “This data gives us an informed perspective of where wolves have been, but not where they are, and certainly not where they are going.”

    Gonzales said CPW will work with livestock producers to provide conflict-mitigation techniques in areas that the wolves will likely explore. Those techniques are laid out in the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, which was approved in May.

    Worries amid wolves: Grand County residents brace as Colorado’s gray wolf reintroduction process begins

    CPW recently announced a new map published on its website to inform people about the wolves’ movements, something that had been briefly discussed at the Jan. 11 CPW Commission meeting.

    That map, created using the GPS collar data, shows which watersheds the wolves have explored, which are outlined in purple. To protect the animals, specific GPS data is not available to the public.

    Colorado Parks and Wildlife

    “In order for a watershed to indicate wolf activity, at least one GPS point from the wolf collars was recorded within the boundaries of the watershed,” CPW explained in January. “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 said it will update the map on a monthly basis and each new one will be published on the fourth Wednesday of every month — so an updated version is expected Feb. 28. It reflects data for the prior month from the GPS collars of the 10 released wolves as well as two wolves in North Park that wandered into Colorado on their own. All known wolves in Colorado have collars, CPW said.

    This reintroduction effort will continue according to the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, which calls for the transfer of 30 to 50 wolves to Colorado over a period of three to five years, aiming for 10 to 15 wolves from multiple packs each year. After that point, the reintroduction efforts will stop and CPW will monitor if the population is self-sustaining.

    CPW announced on Jan. 19 that it had secured 15 wolves for reintroduction into the Western Slope from tribal lands in northeastern Washington, but the wolves won’t set foot in the state until between December 2024 and March 2025.

    CPW asks anybody who sees a wolf or wolf tracks to submit a wolf sighting report form through its website. Staff reviews all credible reports. CPW also has a Wolf Educational Resources page, where you can find videos on wolf biology and the reintroduction planning process.

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