Twenty wolves have been released in Pitkin and Eagle counties in the second round of work to re-establish a self-sustaining population in Colorado, state wildlife officials said Sunday afternoon.
Seven males and eight females were captured over a six-day period in British Columbia where wolves are routinely culled to help support the recovery of the caribou herd in the province. CPW released five wolves in Colorado on each of three days: Jan. 12, 14 and 16.
Work to bring the animals from Canada began Jan. 10, two days after the state wildlife commission denied a petition from ranchers and their allies asking that the reintroduction program be paused. Voters in 2020 narrowly approved a ballot measure directing the state to work to restore wolves west of the Continental Divide.
The first group of 10 wolves from Oregon was released in Grand and Summit counties in December 2023 and conflicts between the animals and ranchers quickly arose.
Five of the animals released this month were members of the Copper Creek pack, which was captured in late August and early September after the adult male was found to be consistently preying on cattle and sheep in Grand County.
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The adult male died soon after it was captured and a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service necropsy concluded a gunshot wound was responsible for the animal’s death, and the agency offered a reward for information leading to the arrest of the shooter. Five of the six surviving members of the pack (one puppy was not captured) were kept at a wildlife refuge until they were released together.
The four pups and an adult female were released together to ensure the pups learn to hunt, giving them the best chance at survival, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said.
This agency decision to re-release the Copper Creek animals considered multiple factors, including the health of the animals, the timing of the B.C. releases this year and the potential proximity to the new wolves.
“As I said at the time, options in the case of the Copper Creek pack were very limited, and this action is by no means a precedent for how CPW will resolve wolf-livestock conflict moving forward. The male adult wolf was involved in multiple depredations. Removing the male at that time, while he was the sole source of food and the female was denning, would likely have been fatal to the pups and counter to the restoration mandate,” CPW Director Jeff Davis said in a news release.
The capture of the pack was a management action that was taken to change the behavior of the animals to reduce depredations and could further impact the adult female’s behavior moving forward.
All 20 animals were fitted with GPS tracking collars.
In its lengthy news release late Sunday afternoon, Colorado Parks and Wildlife provided a detailed account of the negotiations leading up to the capture of the Canadian wolves and how the animals were handled. The release seemed to be answering point by point criticism from people opposed to reintroduction, including by clarifying that Canadian First Nations representatives were involved in the agreement and that there are no U.S. Department of Agriculture quarantine requirements for the wolves.
One of the wolves died after it was captured, the release said. Veterinary staff “noted that the animal’s age and underlying condition may have contributed to its death.”
CPW said in addition to routine screening for health, biological samples were collected from the animals. The wolves also were treated for internal and external parasites and vaccinated against rabies, canine distemper virus, canine adenovirus, canine parainfluenza virus and canine parvovirus.
Wildlife advocates quickly responded to news that the second round of releases was complete, including the Center for Biological Diversity which cheered CPW for not yielding to “a livestock industry attempt to derail the program.”
Alli Henderson, southern Rockies director at the nonprofit advocacy group, was particularly encouraged by the re-release of the Copper Creek pack together.
“The unfortunate situation that led to this family being captured in the first place was entirely preventable,” Henderson said in a news release. “There’s no excuse for livestock producers who chose not to take advantage of the state’s increased resources, education and funding to avoid and mitigate conflicts. I hope we’ll see more and more people showing leadership in the ranching community by using these tools to prevent needless suffering.”