Volunteer Pilots Drop Five Wolves in Colorado as Cattlemen Grump

This week the Colorado Parks and Wildlife released five gray wolves in the wild, the first phase in the state’s program to establish a permanent, self-sustaining wolf population. The project was set in motion by a 2020 voter referendum demanding the reintroduction of the wolves, which had been eradicated from the state nearly a century ago.

The agency won’t say exactly where in Grand County the wolves were unboxed, only that it was on public land. Nearby states with established wolf populations – notably Wyoming and Idaho – refused to help Colorado with the reintroduction plan, but Oregon came through, just in time to meet the end-of-the-year deadline to launch it.

The five wolves – two juvenile females, two juvenile males, and one adult male – were captured in Oregon, examined by veterinarians, then sedated and flown to Colorado by volunteer pilots. They’re all fitted with GPS collars, which is a good thing because wolves tend to roam.

Of course the project is fraught with political antagonisms. Here’s how the Associated Press framed the issue: “Wildlife officials plan to release gray wolves in Colorado in coming weeks, at the behest of urban voters and to the dismay of rural residents who don’t want the predators but have waning influence in the Democratic-led state.”

Meanwhile rancher types, namely the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and the Gunnison County Stockgrowers’ Association, tried to halt the project with a last-minute lawsuit alleging the state had failed to adequately review the project’s environmental impacts. A federal judge shot down the gambit, but it is encouraging to hear that ranchers are now concerned about environmental impact.

Gray wolves are listed as an endangered species at both the state and federal levels. The Colorado plan is to release 10-15 wolves by mid-March 2024 and then, if there are no wolf-related catastrophes, release 30 to 50 more over the next five years.

Watch the release of the wolves here.

Photo credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife