New map shows wolves have moved south of I-70 for first time since reintroduction
Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirms a collared wolf crossed the major interstate
Colorado Parks and Wildlife/Courtesy Photo-Final
For the first time since reintroducing gray wolves in December, one of the wolves has been tracked south of Interstate 70.聽
Colorado Parks and Wildlife released a new collared wolf map Sunday, Nov. 4, updating the previous map released Oct. 23 in light of the travel update.
In a news release, the agency said this activity was anticipated and that the wolves will continue to “expand widely over time.”
“Translocated wolves are currently exploring the Colorado landscape and as wolf population numbers grow, some wolves will migrate to establish new territories,” the agency stated.
The new map tracks which watersheds the collared wolves were in between Oct. 22 and Nov. 1.
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In addition to pushing south of I-70 into the Lake County watershed, it shows more extensive movement west into Rio Blanco and Garfield counties’ watersheds and further east within Grand County.
Currently, Parks and Wildlife has acknowledged the existence of nine wolves in the wild.
This includes six of the 10 reintroduced in December, two that were in Colorado before reintroduction and an additional uncollared wolf that is reportedly a fifth pup from the Copper Creek Pack. The pack’s other four wolf pups and adult female remain in captivity. Parks and Wildlife expects to release the pups back into the wild this winter. The agency has not announced whether or not the adult female will also be released.聽聽
The wildlife agency continues on track to release up to 15 more wolves between January and March in Northwest Colorado despite calls from producers and wildlife advocates to pause reintroduction efforts.
