One of Colorado’s reintroduced wolves is dead, another is likely expecting pups
Colorado Parks and Wildlife/Courtesy photo
Adult male gray wolf that northern Colorado ranchers want killed because it is preying on cattle is safe from “lethal control” because it is likely the mate to a wolf that appears to be denning
Just a few hours after U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists confirmed that one of the 10 gray wolves transplanted to Colorado in December was found dead in Larimer County, the state’s top wildlife official told ranchers he will not kill a wolf blamed for the death of four cows in Grand County because it is likely the mate to a wolf that appears to be denning.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis on Tuesday said GPS points from the female wolf’s collar indicate that she is likely in a den. In early April, GPS points stopped uploading and very recently those points began to upload again.
“The biological interpretation of this is that she was likely in a den during the time when connectivity with the collar was interrupted, which aligns with the expected timing of wolf reproduction,” Davis wrote to the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association after they sent letters to Gov. Jared Polis and the Parks and Wildlife commissioners on April 18 and April 22 demanding CPW kill the wolves before they kill more cattle.
If the pieces add up, this will be the first offspring from wolves reintroduced to Colorado. CPW is working to confirm the den.
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In June 2021, a state biologist and a district wildlife officer observed a litter of pups in Jackson County. They were the first gray wolf pups recorded since the species was extirpated in Colorado 80 years before.
Read more from Tracy Ross via The Colorado Sun.
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