King Mountain wolf pack patriarch dies during collar operations in Routt County
The 3-year-old was among the wolves brought from Oregon in December 2023
Colorado Parks and Wildlife/Courtesy Photo
The patriarch of the King Mountain wolf pack died during a collaring operation in Routt County on Jan. 28, Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced on Feb. 3.
The male wolf, tagged 2305, was around 3 years old and among those translocated from Oregon in December 2023. The wolf’s death marks the second this year and the 12th of the 25 wolves Colorado has translocated as part of its gray wolf reintroduction effort.
Parks and Wildlife reported that the death occurred during “routine collaring operations” to replace the batteries of the GPS collars on the King Mountain Pack’s breeding adults.
“When the animal was delivered to (Parks and Wildlife) staff in the field from the initial capture site, it was unresponsive. Our team initiated resuscitation efforts but determined the animal had died,” said Laura Clellan, acting director of Parks and Wildlife in the news release. “These sorts of capture efforts are a routine part of (Parks and Wildlife’s) wolf monitoring efforts, and the program has had very successful capture operations up to this point.”
During the operation, Parks and Wildlife also captured the King Mountain Pack’s breeding female and one pup, collaring the pup and replacing the batteries on the matriarch’s collar.
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Clellan reported that, while the state is not required to pause capture operations following a death, Parks and Wildlife has “decided to cease capture operations for the time being while we evaluate the circumstances around this mortality.”
The King Mountain Pack was established last spring in Routt County. Parks and Wildlife observed four pups, including the one that is now collared, during the operation. The pack was one of three new packs established in 2025.
Gray wolves are currently federally listed under the Endangered Species Act in Colorado. As such, when a wolf dies in the state, the necropsy and investigation into the death are performed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Initial results from necropies have taken anywhere from 1 month to 4 months to be released by the federal agency.
April 18, 2024: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed the death of a male wolf in Larimer County. Initial necropsy results from the federal agency, released in May, indicated that a mountain lion attack was likely the cause of death.
Sept. 3, 2024: Four days after being captured and placed in captivity, the Copper Creek pack’s adult male wolf died from injuries sustained in the wild. The wolf was reported to be underweight, have wounds on its right hind leg as well as an infection related to the injury.
In January, Fish and Wildlife released the initial necropsy results, reporting that a gunshot wound was responsible for the wolf’s “poor condition” and death. As it is illegal to kill or harm a wolf in Colorado, the death is still under investigation by the federal agency.
Sept. 9, 2024: A male wolf died in Grand County. In November, the Fish and Wildlife Service reported that the initial necropsy results suggest the death was likely due to a fight with another wolf. The report also showed that the wolf had an old, healed gunshot wound.
March 16, 2025: A male wolf was killed by the U.S. Wildlife Services in north-central Wyoming. The wolf was killed by the federal agency after it was tied to the death of five sheep.
April 9, 2025: A male wolf was killed in Wyoming, where the species is delisted from the federal Endangered Species Act and state law allows anyone to kill a wolf in the majority of Wyoming without a license.
April 20, 2025: A female gray wolf died in Rocky Mountain National Park from a mountain lion attack.
May 15, 2025: A female gray wolf died in northwest Colorado. due to “an apparent secondary trauma from a lawful foothold trap used for coyote control,” according to an investigation.
May 29, 2025: Parks and Wildlife killed one of the male yearlings in the Copper Creek Pack in Pitkin County. The lethal action was taken after the pack was connected to multiple livestock attacks in the area over Memorial Day weekend, meeting the agency’s definition for “chronic depredation.”
May 31, 2025: A male gray wolf died in northwest Colorado likely from a collision with a car
July 24, 2025: A female gray wolf died after traveling to Wyoming, the third to die in the neighboring state.
Aug. 16, 2025: A male uncollared wolf that was chronically depredating in Rio Blanco County was shot, but officials could not confirm if the animal died.
Oct. 30, 2025: A female wolf that was brought from British Columbia died in southwest Colorado. The cause of death is under investigation.
Jan. 16, 2026: A female wolf that was brought from British Columbia died in Northwest Colorado. The cause of death is under investigation.
Jan. 28, 2026: A male wolf that was brought from Oregon in 2023 and the patriarch of the King Mountain Pack died in Routt County during a collaring operation.
“It’s not yet possible to understand the long-term implications to the King Mountain Pack as a result of this mortality,” said Eric Odell, Parks and Wildlife’s wolf conservation program manager, in a news release. “We will continue to monitor this pack to evaluate their status and how they are contributing to the establishment of a self-sustaining wolf population in Colorado.”
As gray wolves are listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service typically performs necropsies on the wolves that die in Colorado. In this instance, however, Parks and Wildlife reported that it received permission from the federal agency to conduct the investigation itself. This was allowed because the death occurred during an internal operation and there was no potential law enforcement investigation.
According to a news release, Parks and Wildlife performed the necropsy at its Health Lab in Fort Collins. Final results and lab tests from the necropsy are still pending and will determine whether other underlying conditions contributed to the wolf’s death. An independent third-party veterinary pathologist attended the necropsy and will confirm results.
With Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s recent announcement that it would not release additional wolves this winter, each new mortality could have greater implications for Parks and Wildlife successfully restoring the species in the state. In January, Odell said that when populations of wolves are small, “the contributions of each individual is especially significant.”
“If mortality remains high, as observed in 2025,” he said, “the risk of failing to achieve a self-sustaining wolf population in Colorado increases, potentially requiring additional resources to address.”
