DENVER — Data from collars on Colorado's gray wolves shows that at least one of the animals has explored a new county in the past 30 days, according to a map released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) on Wednesday.
For the first time since the wolf reintroduction efforts began in December 2023, a collared wolf has been recorded in west Clear Creek County. It is not known how long the animal (or animals) stayed in the county, if it is still there or if it has left — only that it entered a watershed in the county within the past 30 days.
The map shows that the wolves are, as expected, continuing to travel long distances in almost every direction.
It is typical of them to cover a lot of ground as they search for a mate, food and a space to live, CPW said.
"Wolves continue to make broad movements across many western counties," CPW said in Wednesday's update.
The map indicates which watersheds have had wolf activity in the last 30 days. Compared to last month's map, a wolf or wolves appear to have moved a little away from the Utah-Colorado border, left Teller County, continue to explore northern Colorado more and have entered the western edge of Clear Creek County.
The maps only show the movements of collared gray wolves.
The number of known wolves in Colorado is as follows:
- 7 wolves surviving from the original 10 that were released in December 2023
- Five wolf pups born in the spring of 2024
- 14 wolves surviving from the 15 that were released in January 2025 (one was shot and killed by Wildlife Services in Wyoming earlier this month)
- Two wolves that moved south from Wyoming several years ago (both collared)
- One uncollared wolf that was last known to be in northwest Moffatt County in mid-February
- Possible, but unconfirmed, wolf in the Browns Park area
The collars are programmed to record a wolf's position every four hours. Biologists used this data to determine where wolves have been, but the data does not show their current position.
CPW's maps are published on its website on the fourth Wednesday of every month.
Since December, the wolves have spread in several directions, though the maps appear to indicate they are tending to travel farther north and west.
You can see the changes in their movements below, which shows three of CPW's most recent maps: December 2024 through January 2025, January through February and February up until Tuesday.
Gray wolves breed in February and pups are typically born in April or early May, CPW said. Female wolves will keep traveling with their packs until they give birth.
"As the population of wolves increases in Colorado, the likelihood of pairing, breeding, and pack formation increases," CPW said. "Our goal is to maintain at least two active collars per pack, so this current phase of wolf restoration is unique in that the majority of the wolf population is collared."
The accuracy of these monthly maps will likely diminish over time as Colorado becomes home to more uncollared wolves that were born in the state.
In addition, CPW's updated wolf depredation tracking sheet shows that one dog was seriously injured or killed by a wolf in Jackson County on March 9.
No other details were available about this incident.
CPW keeps a list of confirmed wolf depredations on the public document, and 2024 ended with 17 incidents and 27 killed or seriously injured livestock. The agency confirmed one wolf kill in early February in Jackson County and the March incident involving the dog in Jackson County marks the second depredation of the year.
Want to learn more about Colorado's wolf reintroduction? You can explore the timeline below, which outlines all of Denver7's coverage since the very beginning. The timeline starts with our most recent story.
The 15 wolves brought to Colorado from British Columbia in January as part of the second round of reintroductions came from an area where there is no overlap between wolves and livestock, CPW has reiterated. This was a focus for the second year of reintroductions after hearing concerns from the public in the wake of the first reintroduction in December 2023. However, when wolves share the landscape with livestock, some sort of conflict is expected, the agency added.
CPW and its partners, which include the Colorado Department of Agriculture, USDA's Wildlife Services, Colorado State University Extension and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, are working to teach Colorado livestock producers about the state's conflict minimization guide, and the resources available to them to keep wolves away from their livestock.
The guide was published in early January.
You can read it at this link or in the embedded document below.