A lone wolf with no tracking collar has been running around northern Colorado, stirring up another round of controversy over the state’s wolf reintroduction problem.
The official line is that it’s a holdout from the Copper Creek pack, an unexpected fifth pup from what was thought to be a litter of four.
Six wolves from that pack, an adult male and female and their four pups, were recently trapped and placed in captivity after numerous cattle were killed by wolves in Grand County, Colo.
But some Colorado residents are skeptical, saying that they think it’s possibly an adult female wolf, which could have come from Wyoming.
‘No Way’ That’s One Of The Pups
There’s “no way” that a wolf in a photo recently released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is in the same age bracket as the Copper Creek pups, Colorado outdoorsman Jerry Whited told Cowboy State Daily.
Whether the wolf is from Wyoming is difficult to confirm or deny.
Wyoming Game and Fish doesn’t actively track wolves that far south in Wyoming, Dan Thompson, the agency’s large carnivore specialist, told Cowboy State Daily.
That part of Wyoming is in the “predator zone” for wolves. Meaning, in that part of the state, they aren’t directly managed by Game and Fish.
They’re classified in that part of Wyoming as predatory animals, which may be hunted and killed at any time – with no bag limits or wolf hunting tags required.
Wyoming Wolves Founded First Colorado Pack
The recent history of wolves in Colorado has been fraught with controversy and setbacks.
Colorado’s first wolf pack in decades was established on its own, by wolves that arrived from Wyoming around 2019-2020, mated and had pups.
Called the North Park pack, it didn’t last long. It’s thought that some of wolves crossed back into Wyoming and were shot by hunters.
Two survivors from that pack – both males with tracking collars – still live in Colorado.
They were joined by 10 reintroduced wolves in late 2023.
The Ongoing Saga Of The Copper Creek Pack
Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program was initiated by Proposition 114, which Colorado voters passed in 2020 by the slimmest of margins, 50.91% to 49.09%.
After Wyoming, Montana and Idaho refused to give Colorado any wolves, for its reintroduction program, Oregon agreed to provide 10 wolves.
Those were the wolves released in Colorado in December 2023.
The Copper Creek Pack sprang from the first pair of those wolves to mate.
This spring, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) confirmed that they had at least one pup.
This summer, a Colorado resident caught video footage of three pups from that pack.
By late August, the Copper Creek pack was in trouble. Numerous cattle were being killed in Grand County. It was suspected that at least one of the adults from that pack – probably the male – was doing the killing.
CPW decided to trap the entire pack. And it was thought that was accomplished last month – with the adults and four pups caught.
The male was suffering from previous injuries and died after a few days in captivity.
The plan is to eventually release the four pups back into the wild. It hasn’t been decided whether the female will also be set free again or kept in captivity for the rest of her life.
There was more bad news for CPW last month, when, even after the pack was removed, a rancher’s cow and calf were killed in Grand County.
So, Whose Wolf Is It?
During the trapping operation, CPW set up game cameras in the area. Last month, those cameras started capturing images of a lone wolf, with no tracking collar.
The agency says it must be a fifth pup from the pack. Wildlife officials have actively been trying to trap it.
But, like Whited, some are skeptical that it’s another wolf from the Copper Creek Pack, or even a pup.
Whited said photos of the wolf have left him skeptical that it could be one of the pups – it looks too mature.
Colorado resident John Michael Willams, who runs the popular Colorado Wolf Tracker social media page, told Cowboy State Daily some think it could be about a two-year old female wolf, he said.
“Where do small female wolves without collars that are up in that part of the state (Colorado) come from? Probably from Wyoming,” he said.
Could A Pup Make It Alone?
However, Rob Edward, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, took a different view.
It’s entirely possible that a pup could have survived on its own for a while, and grown big and healthy, he told Cowboy State Daily.
“Once they’ve reached a few months old, they can feed themselves,” he said.
A lone juvenile wolf could, “like a coyote,” prey mostly on rodents and other small game, he said.
He added that he thinks CPW “is doing the right thing” by trying to trap the lone wolf and confirm its origin.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
