Tag: Colorado wolf Oregon

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.

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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.

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.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife

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.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife

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

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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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.

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