After more than 75 years, Colorado Parks & Wildlife will study the movements of the gray wolf in northern Colorado.
Colorado Parks & Wildlife placed a GPS collar on an endangered gray wolf it had been tracking earlier this year in the north-central part of the state, the agency announced last week.
CPW worked with a contractor to net the animal from a helicopter and use a tranquilizer to subdue him so the collar could be placed. During the collaring effort, the wolf was able to escape the net and head north across the Wyoming border. The team subdued the wolf just inside of the Wyoming state line, placed the collar, and stayed with him until he was alert and mobile.
"The GPS collar will allow our biologists and wildlife managers to learn more about the travel patterns of wolves that are coming into the state," said Dan Prenzlow, director of CPW. "VHF collars are useful for locating an animal but the more advanced GPS collar will allow us to get a much better understanding of the animal's movement, range and behaviors."
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The wolf, known as M2101, is a 4-year-old male that weighs about 110 pounds and appears to be in good health, according to the agency. He was confirmed to be in the state in late January when he was seen with M1084, a VHF-collared male wolf that entered Colorado in 2019.
Last year, the U.S. Department of the Interior removed the gray wolf from federal protection under the Endangered Species Act nationwide. However, gray wolves remain a state endangered species and may not be killed for any reason other than self defense, with penalties ranging from fines to jail time.
Colorado voters approved a ballot measure last year instructing CPW to prepare a plan and reintroduce wolves to western Colorado. The measure was spearheaded by the Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund.
Gray wolves historically inhabited most of Colorado, according to CPW, but were extirpated more than 75 years ago. The last known resident wolves in Colorado were in the 1940s until the most recent sighting of a group of wolves in northwest Colorado in 2020, CPW said.
Did you vote to reintroduce gray wolves to Colorado? Share your thoughts in the comments.
