Wolves

Wolves roam, pups are born, riders deployed—but land-use plans still stuck in 2023

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Wolves are roaming, ranchers are riding – but the rulebook hasn’t changed. Wolves are traveling farther, forming dens and producing pups. Many have turned up dead—especially in Wyoming, where wolves that prey on livestock can be killed on sight under state law. 

Yet not one federal or state land-use plan in Colorado has been updated since gray wolf reintroduction began in December 2023.

That’s the backdrop for Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s May 13 press release announcing that its Range Rider Program is fully operational and patrolling western Colorado. 

Eleven contracted riders hired by CPW have joined two staff from the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) to monitor livestock, haze predators and report signs of wolf-livestock conflict across nine counties.

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CPW tracks four suspected wolf dens, ranchers brace for more uncertainty

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For wolves, the beginning of May signals the end of denning season. 

While Colorado Parks and Wildlife is tracking up to four pairs of wolves that could be denning, none have been confirmed, according to Eric Odell, the agency’s wolf conservation program manager.

“We are monitoring one to three to four pairs of animals that could be denning,” Odell said at the May 7 meeting for the agency’s commission. 

The agency is “sussing out” these potential dens using data from the GPS collars that the majority of Colorado’s wolves are wearing.

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Wolf dies in Rocky Mountain National Park, federal officials investigating

kdvr.com, Approved, State / /

DENVER (KDVR) — A second gray wolf introduced to Colorado has died during April, this time inside the boundaries of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife said that the female gray wolf’s GPS tracking collar issued a mortality alert on April 20. The wolf was one of the 15 released by CPW earlier this year, brought to the state from British Columbia, Canada.

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Colorado’s wolf plan ignores the one thing wolves don’t: borders

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Over the last month, two of Colorado’s latest gray wolf transplants were killed after crossing the border into Wyoming. 

Colorado Parks and Wildlife expects these types of movements into other states from the reintroduced wolf population. The species is known for traveling long distances in search of food or mates. 

However, once the wolves leave Colorado, they lose certain protections afforded to them by both state and federal laws. But just how those protections change, and what might happen to them, depends entirely on which way they travel.

Colorado’s wolf plan ignores the one thing wolves don’t: borders Read More »

CPW confirms second gray wolf reintroduced to Colorado dies in Wyoming

DENVER7, Approved, State / / , ,

For the second time this year, a gray wolf that was translocated to Colorado from Canada as part of the second round of reintroductions has died in Wyoming.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) sent a brief press release about the second death around 6:45 p.m. Friday, saying they had learned about the male wolf’s death in Wyoming on April 9. The wolf was part of the 15 animals — which included seven males — that had been captured in British Columbia earlier this year and brought to Colorado.

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Colorado ranchers and commissioners urge halt on wolf ballot measure, seek better management plan from state

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While they might agree on the problem, a group of Western Slope county commissioners and agricultural groups are asking proponents of a ballot measure to repeal Proposition 114, which allowed the reintroduction of wolves in Colorado, to back off.

Colorado ranchers and commissioners urge halt on wolf ballot measure, seek better management plan from state Read More »

‘Everyone feels anxiety’ over CPW depredation payments, but commissioners note it’s the law

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“Everyone feels anxiety and fear about all this,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis told commissioners as they approved a large payment to two Colorado ranchers in Grand County that lost livestock as a direct result of the wolf reintroduction program.

‘Everyone feels anxiety’ over CPW depredation payments, but commissioners note it’s the law Read More »