|
A wolf pup is born in Colorado!
It’s a pup! Colorado wildlife officials confirm Grand County wolves have reproduced.
Two of the nine surviving wolves transplanted to Colorado have mated. Their success means they’re officially a pack, known as the Copper Creek pack.
At least one pup was been born to a pair of wolves transplanted to Colorado from Oregon in December.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Thursday evening said a gray wolf pup was spotted on June 18 in Grand County but said it is likely as many as five more were born.
Biologists tracking location data noted in early April that a female’s collar had stopped uploading GPS coordinates, but then resumed sending data later in the month. This led the biologists to believe she was likely in a den.
Though CPW did not release a photo or video footage of the pup, a news release said biologists had observed the area where the female’s collar was transmitting from the air and ground, using remote cameras and public reports. The biologists will continue to observe the denning area to see if there are more pups. “It is possible that other pups may be present, as wolf litters commonly consist of four to six pups,” CPW wrote.
This is the first birth of a gray wolf since wolves were reintroduced at the direction of Colorado voters. At least three pups were born in Jackson County in spring of 2021 to a pair of wolves that migrated naturally into Colorado from Wyoming. That litter was the first in Colorado since the species was extirpated 80 years before.
Colorado voters narrowly passed Proposition 114 in November 2020, directing state wildlife officials to begin reintroducing wolves west of the Continental Divide by the end of 2023.
Because a pair of the 10 wolves released on state land has reproduced, that family group is considered a pack and has been named the Copper Creek pack by state wildlife officials. One of the transplanted wolves, a yearling female, was killed in Larimer County, likely by a mountain lion.
“We are continuing to actively monitor this area while exercising extreme caution to avoid inadvertently disturbing the adult wolves, this pup, or other pups,” CPW Wildlife Biologist Brenna Cassidy said in the news release.
CPW also said it will work with landowners in the area to implement practices to minimize the potential for conflict.
The reintroduction of wolves on the Western Slope of Colorado has been fraught with conflict, with ranchers in Grand, Jackson and Routt counties reporting at least a dozen cows and calves killed.
Since they were released in southwestern Grand County and at an undisclosed location in Summit County, GPS tracking data has showed the animals ranging as far west as Routt County, east into Larimer County and near the Boulder and Gilpin county lines, and north to Wyoming.
How can you help wolves?
|
|
Many concerned folks ask, "How Can I Help Wolves?". Here's a comprehensive guide to resources and actions you can take to help wolves:
Learn About Wolves
- Read books and peer-reviewed research, watch videos from this extensive curated list
- And there's more curated publications and suggested reading at livingwithwolves.org
- Download free e-books and more at rockymountainwolfproject.org - especially the “Living With Wolves” Photographic Exhibit
- Read "American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West" by Nate Blakeslee
- Read “Decade Of The Wolf” by Doug Smith and Gary Ferguson
- Watch “How Wolves Change Rivers” with 36 million YouTube views!
- Watch the documentary movie “Medicine Of The Wolf”
- Watch the documentary movie or read the book “Living With Wolves” (DVD/Book)
- Watch the documentary movie “A Season Of Predators”
- Listen to a piece about the 06 female wolf in Yellowstone
- “Like” the “Legend Of Lamar Valley/The Valley Of Wolves” Facebook page (a community of wolf watchers from Yellowstone that post photos/videos of Yellowstone wolves, and share info on what’s going on in the world of wolves)
Join, Volunteer & Stay Current
- Join your Colorado Sierra Club and participate in your local Group meetings & events
- Indicate your volunteer interest in “wolves” here
- Volunteer with your local Colorado Sierra Club Group
- Meet your local Colorado Sierra Club Group Project Wolf Team member
- Sign-up for email updates from the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project
- Follow the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project on Facebook and their events calendar
- Sign-up for the weekly e-newsletter from the Timber Wolf Information Network
Spread The Word Everyday
- Proudly display wolf-friendly bumper stickers (esp. “Colorado Needs Wolves Need Colorado” from the Colorado Sierra Club, and “Colorado Needs Wolves” from the Colorado Wolf And Wildlife Center)
- Share posts & photos from reliable, factual sources and wolf-advocacy organizations on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (one post/photo per week)
- With the help of your local Colorado Sierra Club Group Project Wolf Team member, write timely letters to your local newspaper
Engage!
- Keep track of wolf/wildlife legislation at local, state and national levels.
- Sign online petitions, join campaigns and contact legislators.
- Fight attempts to de-list wolves (all species) from the Endangered Species Act
- Fight attempts to “de-fang” the Endangered Species Act
- “Like” your local and state legislators on Facebook
- “Like” wolf-advocacy organizations on Facebook:
- Colorado Sierra Club (and your local Group), Defenders Of Wildlife, Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, Wolf Conservation Center
- Participate in wolf-advocacy marches and demonstrations
-
Get Up Close And Personal
- Visit a Colorado wolf sanctuary
- Colorado Wolf And Wildlife Center in Divide
- Mission: Wolf near Westcliffe
- W.O.L.F. Sanctuary (currently private but open to the public soon)
- Wolfwood Refuge in Ignacio
- Visit a wolf sanctuary when traveling the US
- International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota
- Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York
- Wolf Haven International n Tenino, Washington
- Wolf Sanctuary Of Pennsylvania in Lititz, Pennsylvania
- Visit Yellowstone National Park & take a guided wolf discovery/photography tour (google “Yellowstone wolf tours”)