March brings big movements for Colorado’s collared gray wolves

It was a month of widespread movements and exploration for Colorado’s collared gray wolves. 

According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s latest watershed map — which shows activity between Feb. 25 and March 25 — the wolves were located in watersheds predominantly across Pitkin, Garfield, Rio Blanco, Routt, Jackson, Grand, Pitkin, and Eagle counties as well as to the southeast in Clear Creek, Park, and Chaffee counties. Some portions of watersheds in northern Gunnison County and northern Summit County also show activity.  

Compared to the previous 30 days, the latest map shows more expansive exploration in the region by the animals. 

While the map only shows activity in Colorado, one wolf traveled into north-central Wyoming in March, where it was killed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services. The male wolf was connected to the death of five sheep in the area.  

The map uses Colorado watersheds where at least one GPS point from the wolves’ collars has been recorded during the past 30 days. 

At least one Pitkin County yearling was killed by a wolf in March, the agency confirmed.  

With the March death of the wolf in Wyoming, there are now 27 wolves in Colorado that have collars. Parks and Wildlife has functioning collars on all 21 surviving wolves it has brought from British Columbia and Oregon, on four of the Copper Creek Pack pups released back into the wild in January, and on two wolves that entered Colorado from Wyoming in 2021. 

This year, the agency has also identified at least three uncollared wolves in the state: two from other states and one of the Copper Creek wolf pups that was never captured.  

For wolves, the spring could also mean a growing population. At the March Parks and Wildlife Commissioner meeting, Eric Odell, the agency’s wolf program manager, confirmed that with the current population and some animals traveling in pairs, some of the wolves are expected to den and have pups. Wolves typically breed in mid-February through March, with pups born around mid April or early May. 

In its update, Parks and Wildlife reported that it’s not possible to predict where den sites will be.