Colorado wildlife officials released 15 wolves from Canada into the central mountains over the last week as part of the second wave of the state's historic, voter-mandated reintroduction of the native predator.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists began capturing the wolves on Jan. 10, and agency officials announced Sunday that CPW had successfully completed the capture-and-release operation. It released the wolves in Eagle and Pitkin counties.
"It has been an honor to work with Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff to support their conservation priority. It is a great example of collaboration and the connections we have in the large landscapes of North America," Hillary Ward, regional director of resource management with the B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, said in a news release.
The addition of the wolves from Canada, and the rerelease of a mother wolf and her four pups, brings the state's total known wild wolf population to 29.
"Colorado's arms are open to these pioneering and resilient wolves. We are beside them, rooting for their success and well-being," said Courtney Vail, chair of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project board, in a statement Sunday. "…While others, in decades past, paved the way with successful wolf reintroductions in surrounding states, Colorado's endeavor is historic because it is state-led and reflects the will of our citizens."
Colorado voters in 2020 narrowly approved a measure mandating that CPW reintroduce the gray wolf, which people eradicated from the state through hunting and poisoning. State wildlife officials in December 2023 released 10 wolves captured from Oregon to begin the reintroduction, with plans to release between 10 and 15 wolves a year for three to five years—until a self-sustaining and stable population is reached.
"It is not just about 15 wolves on the ground," University of Colorado-Boulder professor and RMWP board member Joanna Lambert said. "This work is about a continental-wide and inter-governmental effort advancing the recovery of an endangered species."
Ranching organizations have opposed the reintroduction—which was primarily supported by urban voters along the Front Range—but their efforts to stop or stall the reintroduction have so far failed. Opponents of the reintroduction earlier this month launched a ballot initiative that, if organizers collect enough signatures, would ask voters in 2026 to stop the program.
Along with the wolves from Canada, CPW released a mother wolf and her four pups that the agency captured after the pack's patriarch killed a series of livestock in Middle Park. The adult male wolf died in captivity of a gunshot wound it incurred in the wild—and was among three of the first 10 reintroduced wolves to die in the year since their release.
A fifth pup evaded capture and remained in the wild. CPW officials previously said the pup was last spotted just before Christmas.
Releasing the pups back into the wild with their mother ensures they learn essential survival skills and can create a self-sustaining population, according to RMWP officials.
Biologists examined the wolves from Canada for health concerns before flying them to Colorado, CPW officials said. Biologists also placed a GPS collar on each of the animals.
Gray wolves from the areas of British Columbia where CPW worked do not interact with livestock, CPW officials have said.
"There are no concerns about reintroducing wolves that are from packs that are involved in situations of repeated livestock depredations," the agency said in a Jan. 11 news release announcing the beginning of the capture operation.
While CPW officials had announced the start of the process of capturing the wolves in Canada, they did not announce where and when the wolves were being released until the operation was complete. The agency declined to answer questions over the last week about the timing of releases—citing concerns about the safety of wolves and staff—and also denied a request by The Denver Post to attend a release.
The informational void led to speculation and misinformation online. People followed CPW vehicles they believed carried wolves and, on one occasion, another media outlet reported the incorrect identification of a private ranch where wolves were believed to have been released—a claim the rancher has repeatedly denied.
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