wolves

Federal officials contend that wolves are resilient enough to bounce back even if their numbers drop sharply due to intensive hunting. They say protections are no longer warranted.

It's been legal to hunt and trap wolves in the U.S. Northern Rockies for the past decade after they rebounded from widespread extermination and federal endangered species protections were lifted

and return of wolves to Colorado

The Green River Corridor holds the promise of a pathway for gray wolves to disperse from Wyoming to Colorado. So why aren’t they using it?

The position is an abrupt turnaround for agency officials who spent years in court defending their decision under the Obama administration to allow wolves to be hunted and trapped

Wolves under federal protection made a remarkable rebound in parts of the U.S. over the past several decades, after being driven from the landscape by excessive hunting and trapping in the early 1900s

The groups cite unregulated hunting, poaching and genetic problems for why the gray wolf should be listed under the Endangered Species Act

Gray wolves were hunted, trapped and poisoned into extermination in Colorado in the 1940s.

Wildlife officials say the confirmation of the first wolf family in Colorado since the 1940s will help biologists establish more gray wolves in the state.

Two wildlife officials each spotted a litter of at least three wolf pups hanging out with their parents over the weekend

It will take time to ensure that scientists and ranchers, wildlife activists and the rural Western Slope counties where wolves will be reintroduced all have a say on the divisive issue

Contractors for the Colorado Parks and Wildlife chased a 4-year-old wolf into Wyoming, where they were able to subdue it and affix a tracking collar

The groups that filed Thursday's lawsuits said continued protections are needed so wolf populations can continue to expand in Colorado, California and other states

Voters in metropolitan Denver and Boulder counties, who won't be directly affected by any reintroduction, strongly supported the initiative, with rural voters casting ballots against it

Proposition 114 passed as a flurry of Front Range-votes widened the initiative’s margin of victory, paving the way for the animals’ return to the Western Slope.

Proposition 114’s lead on Wednesday was hovering just above the automatic trigger for a recount. Opponents of the measure call the tight race “a moral victory.”

Proposition 114 measure would be the first time voters -- not federal wildlife biologists -- directed wildlife officials to reintroduce a species. But biologists think wolves are already in northwest Colorado.

The latest Colorado election results reported in real-time in the top races on the ballot

Colorado voters will decide next week whether to reintroduce gray wolves in the state