Collared Gray Wolf Activity Map Released for April

April 24, 2024 Shannon Lukens

By Shannon Lukens.

The most recent Collared Gray Wolf Activity Map has been released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. It says reintroduced wolves have been confirmed in watersheds east of the Continental Divide and onto the Front Range.

Note that it does not show specifics. It shows a watershed area where at least one GPS wolf position was recorded inside the watershed in the past month.

The map for most of April now includes more counties, such as Larimer County and up to the edge of Boulder County. A collared wolf was found dead in Larimer County on April 18.

The watershed areas now include much more of Routt County north of Steamboat Springs and west to Moffat County. It also shows more of Moffat County from the month before, and much less of Rio Blanco County. Grand County is completely covered. Jackson County is almost completely covered.

Two of the ten collars placed on wolves are no longer providing signals to CPW biologists. But CPW has confirmed that the wolves with those collars on are traveling with wolves with collars that work, and the wolves are alive based on visual confirmation from an airplane.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has also added a link to Confirmed Wolf Depredations on its website.

Confirmed Gray Wolf Depredation Information

From CPW: This Confirmed Wolf Depredation information document will serve as a running update of confirmed gray wolf depredations in Colorado. The document will be updated with the most current information available as incidents are confirmed. Information such as whether claims have been submitted and any payments for these incidents may be updated as claims are finalized.

Information on confirmed depredations includes date of incident, county where incident occurred, whether a claim has been filed and amount received, and animals involved in the incident.

April 18, 2024. Grand County. No claim submitted. 1 cattle involved.
April 17, 2024. Grand County. No claim submitted. 3 cattle involved.
April 7, 2024. Jackson County. No claim submitted. 1 calf involved.
April 2, 2024. Grand County. No claim submitted. 1 calf involved.
November 17, 2023. Jackson County. Claim received: $489.00. 3 sheep involved.
March 13, 2023. Jackson County. Claim received: $15,000.00. 1 dog involved.
November 19, 2022. Jackson County. Claim received: $1,106.09. 1 cattle involved.
October 8, 2022. Jackson County. Claim received: $338.62. 1 calf involved.
October 7, 2022. Jackson County. Claim received: $400.00. 1 calf involved.
August 1, 2022. Jackson County. Claim received: $3,000.00. 1 calf involved.
May 30, 2022. Jackson County. Claim received: $3,000.00. 1 calf involved.
May 2, 2022. Jackson County. Claim received: $2,850.00. 1 calf involved.
April 22, 2022. Jackson County. Claim received: $779.52. 1 calf involved.
March 15, 2022. Jackson County. Claim received: $1,230.00. 2 cattle involved.
January 18, 2022. Jackson County. Claim received: $8,647.00. 3 cattle involved.
January 9, 2022. Jackson County. Claim received: $1,252.72. 2 dogs involved.
December 19, 2021. Jackson County. Claim received: $1,800.00. 1 calf involved.

Press Release from Colorado Parks and Wildlife; April 24, 2024.

CPW releases updated collared gray wolf activity map; launches depredation report webpage

DENVER—An updated map was published today on Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s (CPW) website to continue informing the public, recreationists, and livestock producers on where collared wolves have been in the past month. CPW will update this map with new information monthly to reflect data for the past 30 days or so, produced on the fourth Wednesday of every month.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife – Collared Gray Wolf Activity Map – April 2024

CPW also launched a new Gray Wolf Depredation Report webpage to inform the public about confirmed livestock depredations by wolves in Colorado. This page will be updated each time CPW staff investigates and confirms a new depredation event.

Updates:

This map was created using GPS data from all functioning collars in Colorado.
Two of the ten collars placed on wolves translocated in December are no longer providing signals to CPW biologists. This includes the collar that failed in March and an additional collar that was partially functional in March but has since failed. The animals with the failed collars are traveling with other animals with functional collars, which currently allows CPW to monitor those animals. CPW has confirmed that the animals with the malfunctioning collars are still alive based on visual confirmation from an airplane.
Movements of reintroduced wolves have been confirmed in watersheds east of the Continental Divide and onto the Front Range.
This will be the last press release announcing Collared Gray Wolf Activity Map updates. The website will continue to be updated with recent activity on the fourth Wednesday of every month. Sign up for CPW’s Gray Wolf Reintroduction Enews to stay informed.
Statement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: On April 18, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service became aware of a deceased gray wolf in Larimer County, CO. As a federally listed species under the Endangered Species Act, the Service is investigating and has sent the carcass for a necropsy to determine the cause of death. Initial evidence suggests that this wolf likely died of natural causes, but a final determination will not be made until the necropsy is completed. This wolf was one of the ten recently released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in December 2023, and the Service is working cooperatively with CPW in our investigation. No additional details are available at this time. This is an active investigation, and all inquiries on this topic should go to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service PIO Joseph Szuszwalak (joseph_szuszwalak@fws.gov).

About the GPS collar data

Currently, the collars are programmed to record a position every four hours.
Once four locations are recorded, the packet of four locations is then transmitted via satellite to CPW biologists.
Some factors, such as dense cloud cover and closed terrain, can delay the frequency of position recording and data transmission.
By looking at the data, CPW staff can learn where wolves have been, but they cannot tell where wolves are at a current point in time, nor can they predict where the wolves will go.
To protect the wolves, specific GPS data will not be shared.

This map depicts watersheds where collared wolves in Colorado have been for the past 28 days. A watershed is a geographic unit that drains water into a specific water body. These are also known as Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUC). Information is shared at the HUC 10 level. Watersheds are the appropriate mapping unit to display wolf activity information because wolves are far more likely to use geographic features to affect their distribution than they are political boundaries. The HUC 10 scale provides detailed information that can help agricultural producers be informed of the general areas where wolf activity is known to exist without being too general (i.e., as a county-level map would be) and also is not so specific to risk the protection of individual wolves (as a finer scale HUC12 map would be). Learn more about HUCs at https://water.usgs.gov/GIS/huc.html.

For a watershed to indicate wolf activity, at least one GPS point from the wolf collars was recorded within the watershed’s boundaries. Because a watershed indicates wolf activity, it does not mean that a wolf or wolves are present throughout the entire watershed or that they are currently in it.

In order to protect the welfare of the wolves, CPW may buffer public-facing maps during sensitive times of the year (e.g., breeding, denning, or other sensitive times).

Through immigration from other states, potential collar failure or loss, and the natural reproduction of pups, the proportion of wolves with collars transmitting data will be reduced over time. Therefore, the accuracy of this map will diminish over time as the activity of uncollared wolves may not be included in it. The long-term intention is to maintain at least two collars in each pack.

To learn more about wolves in Colorado, visit the CPW Wolves in Colorado website to find a variety of educational materials. Online resources include:

Listen to a recent episode of the Colorado Outdoors Podcast, “The Colorado Gray Wolf Reintroduction.” In this episode, we hear from our Colorado Parks and Wildlife team members actively engaged in reintroducing gray wolves in Colorado. Tune in as they share their experiences, recounting their work in Oregon, where wolves were captured for relocation to Colorado, and from the release sites in Colorado.

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Steamboat Radio News Past Coverage of wolves in Colorado

April 24, 2024 — COLLARED GRAY WOLF ACTIVITY MAP RELEASED FOR APRIL
April 23, 2024 — A WOLF HAS DIED, AND MIDDLE PARK STOCKGROWERS HEAR FROM CPW
April 22, 2024 — MULTIPLE LETTERS SENT TODAY TO GOVERNOR POLIS AND CPW ASKING FOR ACTION ON WOLVES
April 18, 2024 — FOUR MORE HEAD OF LIVESTOCK KILLED BY WOLVES IN GRAND COUNTY
April 9, 2024 — AG PRODUCERS MEET WITH CPW OFFICIALS IN KREMMLING ABOUT WOLVES
April 8, 2024 — ANOTHER CALF KILLED BY A WOLF OR WOLVES IN JACKSON COUNTY
April 3, 2024 — A WOLF OR WOLVES HAVE KILLED A NEWBORN CALF IN GRAND COUNTY
April 3, 2024 — Denver 7 Calf killed in first confirmed report of gray wolf depredation since wolves were released in December
Feb. 29, 2024 — COLORADO PARKS AND WILDLIFE OFFICIALS COME TO STEAMBOAT SPRINGS TO TALK WOLVES
Jan. 30, 2024 — CPW SENDS UPDATE ON WOLF SIGHTINGS SINCE 2004, AND MORE ON THE MAP
Jan. 24, 2024 — ELECTED OFFICIALS GRILL DEPT. OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND CPW AT HEARING WEDNESDAY
Jan. 22, 2024 — CPW GETS HARSH LETTER DEMANDING ANSWERS FROM ROBERTS AND MCCLUSKIE
Jan. 19, 2024 — COLORADO’S NEXT WOLVES TO BE REINTRODUCED WILL BE FROM TRIBAL LANDS IN WASHINGTON
Jan. 12, 2024 — CPW CONFIRMS WOLVES WERE IN SOUTH ROUTT BUT AREN’T (YET) IN MOFFAT
Dec. 22, 2023 — FIVE MORE WOLVES ARE RELEASED BY COLORADO PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Dec. 22, 2023 — CPW DENIES GITTLESON’S REQUEST TO IMPLEMENT 10(J) RULE ON JACKSON COUNTY WOLVES
Dec. 21, 2023 — THREE OF THE FIVE WOLVES RELEASED IN COLORADO WERE IN PACKS THAT KILLED OR INJURED LIVESTOCK IN OREGON
Dec. 19, 2023 — LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS RECEIVE WOLF UPDATE FROM CPW IN CRAIG MONDAY
Dec. 13, 2023 — GITTLESON SAYS ANOTHER CALF WAS ATTACKED BY A WOLF TODAY
Dec. 11, 2023 — COMPLAINT FILED IN U.S. DISTRICT COURT TO STOP WOLF REINTRODUCTION IN COLORADO
Dec. 4, 2023 — KEEP YOUR PETS CLOSE AND CARRY A BIG STICK – CPW HAS ADVICE FOR LIVING WITH WOLVES
Nov. 19, 2023 — THREE LAMBS KILLED BY A WOLF IN JACKSON COUNTY, SAYS RANCHER
Nov. 17, 2023 – CPW AND CDA ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT TO WORK TOGETHER ON WOLF REINTRODUCTION
Nov. 7, 2023 – U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SETS DATE FOR 10J RULE FOR WOLVES
Oct. 6, 2023 – COLORADO WILL RECEIVE WOLVES FROM OREGON
May 16, 2023 – POLIS VETOES 10J RULE WOLF BILL
May 3, 2023 – CPW COMMISSION APPROVES FINAL WOLF RESTORATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN
May 2, 2023 – MANAGEMENT OF GRAY WOLVES REINTRODUCTION BILL PASSES IN STATE HOUSE
May 2, 2023 –CPW MEETS THIS WEEK FOR FINAL WOLF MANAGEMENT PLAN
April 27, 2023 – CPW CONFIRMS WOLF SIGHTING EAST OF KREMMLING
April 8, 2023 – CPW WOLF COMMISSION MEETS IN STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
April 3, 2023 – CPW TO PRESENT FINAL DRAFT WOLF RESTORATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN IN STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
March 28, 2023 – THE SOUTHERN UTE TRIBE ASKS THAT CPW RELEASES WOLVES ALONG I-70 CORRIDOR
March 15, 2023 – TWO DOGS DIE FROM WOLVES IN JACKSON COUNTY THIS WEEK
March 3, 2023 –COLORADO PARKS AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION RELEASES WOLF REINTRODUCTION MEETING RECAP
Feb. 10, 2022 – MONTANA STOCKGROWERS VOICE SUPPORT FOR COLORADO RANCHERS OVER THE WOLVES
Feb. 9, 2022 – WOLF MANAGEMENT DISCUSSED BY LOCAL RANCHERS AND OFFICIALS AT FORUM IN STEAMBOAT
Jan. 22, 2022 – WOLF MITIGATION OPTIONS
Jan. 19, 2022 – ANOTHER COW KILLED OVERNIGHT IN NORTH PARK BY WOLVES
Jan. 18, 2022 – TWO MORE COWS ATTACKED BY WOLVES IN JACKSON COUNTY TUESDAY
Jan. 12, 2022 – CPW ALLOWS WOLVES TO BE HAZED IN EMERGENCY DECLARATION
Jan. 10, 2022 – A WOLF PACK KILL IS REPORTED IN JACKSON COUNTY OVER THE WEEKEND
June 9, 2021 – WOLF DEN WITH PUPS CONFIRMED IN NW COLORADO