As Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is hosting educational sessions on wolf reintroduction in the state after the passage of Proposition 114, a pair of wolves are already making their home in Colorado.
A gray wolf was first spotted in 2019 in Jackson County; it had been collared in Wyoming by the Grand Teton National Park and was part of the Snake River Pack. The wolf was characterized as M1084, but it was later determined there a data error when the wolf was traveling with another collared wolf.
Tracking data points revealed behavior consistent with denning and M1084 was actually a female and is now known as F1084. The other wolf, known as M2101, was collared in February and a veterinary exam at the time revealed it was a healthy 4-year-old male weighing 110 pounds.
Data from the wolves’ tracking collars give reason to believe the wolves may have a den in Jackson County that could be home to pups.
[Editor’s note: As of June 9, CPW reported sightings of at least three gray wolf pups with the two collared wolves. At this time, it is unknown whether there are more pups. A typical litter consists of 4-6 pups.]
Rebecca Ferrell, a communications official with CPW, said field biologists have set up trail cameras and continue to observe location data to see if the wolves reunite at a “rendezvous site,” where the parents will wean and raise the pups. If confirmed, it would mark the first evidence of gray wolves breeding in Colorado since the 1940s.
Gov. Jared Polis (D) applauded the news in a Facebook post and named the pair “John and Jane Wolf.” He wrote, “Of course, one breeding pair can’t sustain a healthy population, but Colorado voters recently approved the reintroduction of wolves to our ecosystem which will help John and Jane’s pups have genetically diverse potential mates to choose from when they grow up.”
CPW is working to finalize the technical working group members and gather federal and neighboring state partners and other experts who have experience with wolf reintroduction. — WLJ
