Gray wolf (Canis lupus). Photo by Gary Kramer, USFWS.
Pup Confirmed for Colorado’s Newly Released Wolves
June 23, 2024 – GRAND COUNTY, Colo. – Colorado Parks and Wildlife has confirmed one wolf pup from a pair of Colorado’s newly reintroduced wolves. This new wolf family, officially declared a pack, has been named the Copper Creek Pack.
“It’s so exciting to be witnessing the early days of wolves’ return to Colorado, and my heart jumped for joy when I heard about the new wolf pup,” said Alli Henderson, southern Rockies director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “With wolf families gone from Colorado for nearly a century, this pup’s arrival is a huge conservation milestone. Wolves belong here, and I’m so glad they’re back.”
Over the last few months, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has explained that location data from the newly released wolves’ GPS collars had indicated denning by a male and female gray wolf. The agency was able to confirm the presence of one pup for now, through routine wolf monitoring efforts, but other pups may be present, since wolf litters commonly consist of four to six pups.
This pup is the first one in Colorado since the formation of the North Park Pack in spring of 2021 by two wolves that dispersed from Wyoming and then gave birth to one litter of pups in Jackson County. Several of the North Park Pack wolves were legally shot when they crossed the border into Wyoming, and only two members, both males, are known to be still alive.
Before the North Park Pack’s litter, it had been nearly a century since Colorado reported wild pups born in the state.
To protect the new family, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has not released information on which of the released wolves are now parents or where they are denning. Of the 10 wolves released in Colorado, six are females of breeding age from various Oregon packs.
According to media reports, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has stated that the father of the new pup may have attacked cattle. The agency and Colorado Department of Agriculture are providing technical help and other resources to livestock operators in the area to avoid conflicts with the growing wolf family.
“With good animal husbandry and commonsense measures like guard dogs, livestock operations can coexist with wolves,” said Henderson. “The Colorado Department of Agriculture and Colorado Parks and Wildlife are offering subsidized and free resources to deploy these measures to prevent and respond to conflicts with wolves. Livestock operators should be taking full advantage of this assistance to prevent and mitigate conflicts.”
Two claims for compensation have been submitted for cattle injured or killed earlier this year in Grand and Jackson counties by reintroduced wolves. Livestock operators have 90 days to submit such a claim.
At the end of April, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said that one of the 10 newly reintroduced wolves died in Larimer County. Based on the necropsy it was determined the death was caused by a mountain lion. The remaining nine wolves are assumed to be alive, although at least one has a failed GPS collar. Movements of reintroduced wolves have been confirmed east of the Continental Divide and onto the Front Range.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Source: Center for Biological Diversity
