With as many as four pairs of wolves denning together in Colorado, the state’s wolf numbers could soon skyrocket with a fresh crop of wolf pups.
That in turn could shift the dynamics of Colorado’s wolf population with the formation of numerous established packs.
The likely impending wolf puppy boom is drawing mixed reactions from Colorado residents.
“More cohesive packs” could mean more conflict with ranchers and hunters, John Michael Williams, who runs the Colorado Wolf Tracker Facebook page, told Cowboy State Daily.
“If you do the math, if you figure five or six pups per each wolf den, that’s 20 to 24 new wolves in Colorado,” he said.
Kim Bean, the founder and president of Wolf and Wildlife Advocates, told Cowboy State Daily that she was thrilled when Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) recently announced that it was tracking four possible denning pairs of wolves.
“I think it’s fantastic. I think it’s showing that the wolf reintroduction is working,” she said.
If any, or all, of the new wolf pairs produce pups, the pups might start emerging from dens in about a month, according to CPW.
Lack Of Packs
For most of Colorado’s recent history with wolves, established packs have been lacking.
The Gittleson family, who run a Colorado ranch near the Wyoming state line, previously told Cowboy State Daily that they began spotting wolves there in 2019.
Those wolves are thought to have pushed into Colorado from Wyoming. A male and female wolf paired up, had pups and formed the North Park wolf pack.
That pack lasted only a couple of years before it dissipated. It’s thought that some of its members wandered back into Wyoming, where it’s legal to shoot wolves on sight in most of the state, and were killed by hunters.
Two survivors from the North Park pack, both males, are thought to still be in Colorado.
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%.
Reintroductions began in December 2023, with the release of 10 wolves brought in from Oregon.
A male and female from that batch of reintroduced wolves had pups and formed the Copper Creek pack.
However, after numerous reported incidents of wolves from that pack killing livestock, most of the pack was captured and placed in captivity. The adult male died of previous injuries shortly after being captured.
The female and the nearly-grown pups were eventually released back into the wild in Colorado.
Canada Transplant Wolves Have Rough Luck
In January, 15 more wolves were flown in from British Columbia, Canada and released in Colorado.
Two of those wolves, both males, crossed into Wyoming this spring and were killed.
A third wolf from Canada, a female, died in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, although CPW didn’t report the cause of death.
CPW reported that another female wolf from the Canada batch died in Norwest Colorado on May 15, but again didn’t report the cause of death.
Packs On The Way?
Williams and Bean said that the likely existence of four denning pairs indicates that Colorado’s wolves might have turned the corner.
It is probably just a matter of time before there are permanently established packs there.
Williams said that according what he’s heard, ranchers and some other Colorado residents are apprehensive about having to deal with full packs of wolves.
He lived in Wisconsin from 1991 to 2009, and said he saw the wolf population there rise and gel into networks of permanent packs.
That took a heavy toll on that state’s vaunted whitetail deer population, Williams said.
CPW hasn’t revealed the location of the wolf dens, he said. But if wolf pups do start emerging from dens this summer, he doesn’t think they’ll stay hidden for long.
“Like it is in Wyoming, that’s the height of our tourist season,” Williams said. “If wouldn’t surprise me, with all those people out on the trails, if somebody gets a video of some of the new pups, like they did with the pups from the Copper Creek pack.”
Bean said she thinks the imminent possibility of well-established wolf packs in Colorado is a change for the better.
“Whether you’re excited (about wolves) or not, they’re here,” she said. “They’re going to stay here, regardless of what torment there is out there. Why not just progress and learn to live with wildlife?”
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
