Colorado Parks & Wildlife announces new source for gray wolves: Canada

DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) - Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) announced Friday that the agency has reached an agreement with the British Columbia Ministry of Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship to source up to 15 wolves for the Colorado gray wolf reintroduction.

CPW said the wolves will be captured and translocated from the Canadian province between December 2024 and March 2025. 

RELATED: A timeline of wolves in Colorado: From extirpation to reintroduction

As part of the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, CPW plans to release 10-15 gray wolves on the West Slope each year, for three to five years. The agency said they will begin capture operations this winter, with B.C. providing assistance in planning and carrying out the operation. Just as last year in Oregon, CPW will be responsible for all costs associated with the capture and transport of the wolves. 

CPW said the selection of wolves will follow the guidance of the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan. The agency also said they will not translocate wolves that are from packs that are currently involved in situations of repeated livestock depredations. 

Colorado's first wolf pack following reintroduction efforts, the Copper Creek wolf pack, was just recently captured by CPW due to livestock depredations in Grand County. The pack is being held in a secure location with plans to relocate them eventually.

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“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,” said CPW Wolf Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell.

“We are looking forward to working with B.C. and bringing together our combined experience and expertise in an effort that’s a win for both agencies,” Odell added. “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.” 

According to CPW,

• CPW staff will work with biologists from the B.C. Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship to capture wolves 
• Wolves will be tested and treated for disease at the source sites to ensure individuals meet requirements for reintroduction
• Collars will be placed on wolves, which will inform CPW on the behaviors and survival of reintroduced animals
• Wolves will be transported in sturdy aluminum crates to Colorado either by airplane and/or truck
• Wolves will be released at select sites in Colorado as soon as possible once they arrive in the state to minimize stress on the animals

For more information, visit CPW's page, Wolves in Colorado.