A Colorado gray wolf that died in May was likely struck by a vehicle, wildlife officials said Tuesday.
Following a necropsy, investigators with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined the wolf died from blunt force trauma. The wolf, wearing tracking collar 2507, was one of the 15 animals captured in British Columbia and released in Pitkin and Eagle counties in January.
The wolf was found in northwestern Colorado after Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it received a mortality signal from the wolf’s collar May 31.
Because gray wolves are listed as endangered in Colorado under the federal Endangered Species Act, all deaths are investigated by the Fish and Wildlife Service.
This wolf is one of 11 that were moved to Colorado from Oregon and British Columbia that have been killed by humans or predators.
On Friday, CPW officials confirmed they killed a yearling wolf that killed six sheep in Rio Blanco County. After a prolonged search, which was hampered by the Elk fire, officials located the uncollared pup with thermal optics and shot it once.