Colorado announces plan to release up to 15 more wolves this winter

DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced Friday that it plans to bring another 15 gray wolves to the state from Canada this winter.

A total of 10 gray wolves were released starting late last year through an agreement with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, however, three have died .

The wolf reintroduction plan calls for 30 to 50 wolves to be transferred to Colorado within three to five years.

On July 30, CPW announced that its agreement with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation as a source for more wolves was rescinded. Last month, CPW Director Jeff Davis said the agency would continue working with other potential sources for wolves.

Friday, CPW announced that it secured a source to capture wolves from with the British Columbia Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship.

The agency said in a press release that it plans to begin capture and transfer operations in December. Up to 15 more will be released between December 2024 and March 2025, bringing the total to 25 relocations.

“We learned a great deal from last year’s successful capture and transport efforts and will apply those lessons this year as we work to establish a self-sustaining wolf population in Colorado,” CPW Wolf Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell said in a press release.

Wolves with major injuries, mange or lice infection will not be transferred to Colorado, CPW said.

“Gray wolves from the Canadian Rockies were used for reintroduction in Idaho and Yellowstone. There are no biological differences between wolves in British Columbia and the wolves released in Colorado last year, and the new source population will provide additional genetic diversity to our state’s small but growing wolf population,” Odell said.

The wolves will be tested and treated for disease before they are transported in aluminum crates by plane or truck, according to the release. CPW said they will be collared and then released at select sites as soon as they arrive in Colorado.

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