On Dec. 22, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) reported that experts completed wolf capture work in Oregon, finishing their work in the state.
Photo image behind the Colorado Parks and Wildlife logo courtesy of Rio Blanco Herald Times
As a result of the CPW team’s work in Oregon, the agency has now released a total of 10 gray wolves onto state-owned public land in Summit and Grand counties, continuing the agency’s efforts to create a permanent, self-sustaining gray wolf population in Colorado.
As reported in a Colorado Press Association/Ark Valley Voice pool story on December 19, the first five wolves were successfully relocated to an undisclosed location in Grand County. This completes the agreement with Oregon for the December 2023 – March 2024 capture season to provide up to 10 wolves to Colorado.
No further releases are planned this calendar year, however up to five additional wolves may be released in mid-March, 2024. According to the CPW, 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.
“We are grateful to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) for working with our agency in providing these 10 wolves,” said CPW Director Jeff Davis. “We have now completed our work in Oregon by capturing those gray wolves per our agreement with ODFW. We will continue our plan to release animals for the next few seasons in order to ensure that wolves don’t just survive but thrive in Colorado as they did a century ago.”
The new wolves will be managed by CPW using the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, approved by the CPW Commission in May 2023, after more than two years of extensive statewide stakeholder meetings and outreach via a series of public hearings.
A Wolf Resource Guide has been developed that is available online and in printed format to be distributed to ranchers in Colorado who are experiencing wolf depredations.
The public is reminded that the only option for lethal control by a landowner or member of the public is if they encounter a wolf in the act of depredating livestock, or in an act of self-defense or defense of human life.
If lethal control is used during a depredation event, a permit must be issued, and an investigation by CPW would determine whether there is proof of either of these instances occurring at the time of take. Without a permit, killing a gray wolf remains punishable by fines up to $100,000, jail time, and loss of hunting privileges.
Featured image: Wolf 2306-OR, a 66lb. female gray wolf of the Noregaard pack, shortly after release in Colorado on December 19, 2023. Photo courtesy CPW
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