5 more wolves released in Colorado, bringing total to 10
Colorado Parks and Wildlife/Courtesy photo
After its much-publicized release of five wolves on Monday, Dec. 18, Colorado Parks and Wildlife released five more wolves over the past week.
All of the wolves were released on state-owned land in Summit and Grand Counties, Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported in a news release. The controversial reintroduction of gray wolves to Colorado comes three years after voters approved a plan following a statewide ballot measure.
Two females and three males were released Monday on state-owned land in Grand County. It’s unclear if the five released since then were all on Summit County land, or divided between the two counties.
According to a provided photo, at least one wolf, a yearling female, was released on Tuesday, Dec. 19.
“A press release was shared documenting the first five animals reintroduced in the state,” wrote Colorado Parks and Wildlife in a Friday evening news release. “The remaining release events were not widely shared to help protect the safety and security of the wolves, CPW staff, and the locations of endangered species.”
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That brings the total of wolves reintroduced in Colorado to 10. CPW said there are no plans to release more this calendar year.
The 10 animals fulfill the agreement with Oregon to provide up to 10 wolves to Colorado.
Pair part of a pack that killed livestock
As first reported by The Fence Post, a sister publication of the Vail Daily, two of the wolves released Monday in Grand County were part of a large pack in Oregon that killed three livestock animals and injured two others. The wolves, known as 2302-OR, a juvenile female with black fur weighing 68 pounds, and 2303-OR, a juvenile male with gray fur, weighing 76 pounds, come from the Five Points Pack.
Name, sex, age, weight, color, pack, county released
2302-OR, F, Yearling, 68 lbs, black, Five Points, Grand
2303-OR, M, Yearling, 76 lbs, gray, Five Points, Grand
2304-OR, F, Yearling, 76 lbs, gray, Noregaard, Grand
2305-OR, M, Yearling, 93 lbs, gray, Noregaard, Grand
2306-OR, F, Yearling, 66 lbs, gray, Noregaard, Summit or Grand
2307-OR, M, Adult, 108 lbs, black, Wenaha, Grand
2308-OR, F, Yearling, 74 lbs, gray, Noregaard, Summit or Grand
2309-OR, M, Adult, 104 lbs, gray, Wenaha, Summit or Grand
2310-OR, F, Yearling, 71 lbs, gray, Desolation, Summit or Grand
2312-OR, F, Yearling, 76 lbs, gray, No Pack, Summit or Grand
“All wolves captured, collared, and released in Colorado will use the same naming convention: The first two numbers (23) will indicate the year the animal was captured. The second set of numbers informs biologists of the wolf’s gender (males will have odd numbers, females will have even) and the order in which it was collared. *The “OR” suffix indicates the wolves came from Oregon,” according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife
The Fence Post reported that Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Livestock Depredation Investigations show that Five Points pack wolves injured one calf and killed another in separate depredations in July of 2023; killed a cow on Dec. 5, 2022; and injured a 900-pound yearling heifer on July 17, 2022.
On July 21, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife authorized the killing of up to four wolves from the Five Points Pack after two attacks on livestock within a week, which were the second and third depredations in the area within eight months. With the state’s permission, ranchers killed two adult females, one adult male, and a yearling female from the problem pack by Aug. 4.
CPW Director Jeff Davis and his staff testified before the House Agriculture Committee on Sept. 12, 2023, that they would do everything possible not to bring “problem” wolves to Colorado. The Fence Post said emails to CPW asking why Five Points pack wolves from the chronically depredating pack were released in Colorado have not yet been returned.
Reporting from The Fence Post was used in this story.
