Wolves in Colorado

Proposition 114, now state statute 33-2-105.8, passed on November 3, 2020. It directed the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to develop a plan to introduce and manage gray wolves in Colorado west of the Continental Divide no later than December 31, 2023. Ten wolves were reintroduced to the state in December, 2023 as part of this plan.

About Gray Wolves

Wolves in Colorado

About Gray Wolves

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Map

Tracking Collared Wolf Activity

Collared Gray Wolf Activity October 22, 2024 - November 1, 2024

Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Collared Gray Wolf Activity Map will help inform the public, recreationists and livestock producers on where wolves have been in the past month.

Download the Collared Gray Wolf Activity Map

Notable Updates

Wolf Movement Update: Since the Collared Gray Wolf Activity Map was updated on Wednesday, Oct. 23, Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists have noted GPS locations from a collared gray wolf to the south of Interstate 70. Although CPW does not publicly provide location information on Colorado’s wolves outside of the map releases on the fourth Wednesday of every month, the agency is providing this update because this is the first time GPS data points have been observed south of I-70. This kind of wildlife activity was anticipated. Learn more about the recent wolf movement.

CPW is planning for this season’s capture and release efforts after it secured another source population of gray wolves from British Columbia.
CPW’s five new Wildlife Damage Specialists are now deployed and helping the agency with depredation investigations, site assessments, depredation response resource deployment, range riding and carcass management in conjunction with CDA, and community outreach.
CPW staff completed two weeks of training on depredation investigation and nonlethal conflict minimization alongside wildlife staff in Oregon and Idaho. You can read about their experience in this article in Colorado Outdoors.
CPW is partnering with CDA, USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services, and Colorado State University Extension to bring training to Colorado livestock producers related to coexistence with wolves at meetings in October and November. Interested producers can register online to confirm their attendance.

Collared Wolf Activity Map

Tracking Wolves

Colorado Parks and Wildlife will implement a thorough post-release monitoring program to assess and modify reintroduction protocols, if necessary, to ensure the highest probability of survival and site retention for released animals. All released wolves will be monitored using satellite GPS collars, which will inform managers on survival and dispersal, as well as future release protocols.

How GPS Collars Track Activity

Currently, collars are programmed to record a position every four hours. Once four locations have been recorded, the packet of four locations is then transmitted via satellite to biologists.

The frequency of both position recording and transmission of the data can be delayed by a number of factors such as dense cloud cover, closed terrain, etc.

By looking at the data, Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff can learn where wolves have been, but they cannot tell where wolves are at a current point in time, nor can they predict where the wolves will go.

Wolves with GPS Collars

As packs establish, effort will be made to collar at least one member of each pack with emphasis on breeding adults. The desired standard will be to have two collars in each pack; whether this is achievable for every pack in the state will be determined following reintroduction. It should be expected that through immigration from other states and natural reproduction of pups, the proportion of wolves that have collars will be reduced over time. Therefore, the accuracy of this map will be diminished over time as the activity of uncollared wolves may not be included in this map.

About the Map

A watershed is a geographic unit that drains water into a specific waterbody. Watersheds are the appropriate mapping unit to display wolf activity information because wolves are far more likely to use geographic features to affect their distribution than they are political boundaries.

These maps are created using GPS collar data collected from all 12 collared wolves in Colorado. This includes the 10 animals reintroduced from Oregon, as well as the two collared wolves in North Park.

In order for a watershed to indicate wolf activity, at least one GPS point from the wolf collars was recorded within the boundaries of the watershed. Simply because a watershed indicates wolf activity, it does not mean that a wolf or wolves are present throughout the entire watershed nor that they are currently in the watershed. For example, a wolf has not yet been located south of I-70, even though the watershed in which a wolf was detected spans both north and south of the Interstate.

This map will be updated with new information on a monthly basis, produced on the fourth Wednesday of every month, and will reflect data for the prior month, give or take several days.

The HUC 10 scale provides detailed information that can help agricultural producers be informed of the general areas where wolf activity is known to exist without being too general (i.e. as a county level map would be), and also is not so specific so as to risk the protection of individual wolves (as a finer scale HUC12 map would be). More can be learned about HUCs at https://water.usgs.gov/GIS/huc.html.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife reserves the right to buffer maps that will be shared with the public if doing so protects wolf welfare during sensitive times of the year (e.g., mating season).

Map Archive

Colorado Parks and Wildlife reserves the right to buffer maps that will be shared with the public if doing so protects wolf welfare during sensitive times of the year (e.g., mating season).

Wolves in Colorado

Wolf Sightings

Colorado Parks and Wildlife typically fields around 100 sighting reports each year. However, wolf reports are typically not considered reliable without strong supporting evidence. When credible reports of wolves are received, we work closely with our federal partners to investigate them. We will continue to work with USFWS and other state, local and NGO partners in sharing information regarding verified sightings with the public.

Sightings in Colorado

Tracking each confirmed sighting made sense in the past when wolves were not established in the state, but has become redundant now that reintroduction efforts are underway and the same wolves are being spotted multiple times.

Rather than updating a table of confirmed sightings, CPW’s new map will be updated each month with GPS collar data from the only wolves confirmed to be in Colorado at this time.

Over time, as wolf populations become established, CPW will develop “territory” maps showing which areas each wolf pack is primarily inhabiting, similar to what other states, Tribes and federal agencies who manage wolves have done.

Confirmed Wolf Sightings before 2023

June 4, 2021
- Visual confirmation of six pups with F1084 and 2101, becoming the first documented breeding pair in the state in several decades by Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff. In June 2021 and for the next approximately year, six pups from F1084 and 2101 have been observed by staff, who continue to monitor this pack.
January 19, 2021
- A male gray wolf's presence was confirmed when it was seen with the wolf from the Snake River pack in Jackson County. It was visually confirmed and collared. Wolf now identified as 2101. Origin unknown.
January 6, 2020
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed the presence of at least six wolves in northern Moffat County. The current location/status of these wolves is not known. Staff later received additional sighting reports and photos of wolves in this area. Origin unknown.
July 8, 2019
- A wolf from the Snake River Pack in Wyoming, F1084, was located in Jackson County, Colorado.
November 12, 2018
- Male mexican wolf raised captive at the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center in Divide, Colorado. The animal escaped and was recaptured.
April 29, 2015
- Male gray wolf shot by legal coyote hunter in Kemmling, Colorado. Origin unknown.
April 2015
- Male black wolf found on a trail camera and radio collar data in North Park Colorado. Origin from Wyoming, 935M.
February 2009
- Female gray wolf presumed poisoned North of Rifle, Colorado. Origin from the Mill Creek pack, 314F in Montana.
February 16, 2007
- Black wolf seen in North Park, Colorado. Video taken by Colorado Division of Wildlife staff. Origin unkown.

Report a Sighting

Think You’ve Seen a Wolf?

Help Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists monitor wolves on the landscapes by filling out the Wolf Sighting Form. Please provide a photo or video, the exact location coordinates or other detailed information for confirmation purposes.

Coyote or Gray Wolf: How to Spot the Differences

Gray wolves are about twice the size of coyotes. They can measure up to 6 feet in length, including tail, and stand approximately 30 inches in height at the shoulder. Female wolves weigh 70–80 pounds, while males weigh around 95–100 pounds.

Learn the How to Spot the Differences Coyote o lobo gris: Cómo detectar las diferencias

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