Colorado to capture 15 B.C. wolves to reintroduce the population to the state

Colorado officials plan to capture up to 15 grey wolves from British Columbia's hinterlands to help the Centennial State re-establish the predators' long-lost population.

In a statement, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) said its experts began their non-lethal hunt Friday in agreement with B.C.'s Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship.

Wolves historically inhabited Colorado, CPW notes, but they were hunted to the point of extirpation — local or regional extinction — in the 1940s.

In recent years, the state has sought to re-introduce the species after voters approved a ballot measure to bring them back.

In 2023, the first 10 wolves were brought in from Oregon. CPW says adding wolves from B.C. will increase the odds of pairing, breeding and packs forming.

"We are excited to be working with B.C. to bring together our combined experience and expertise while ensuring the safety of animals and staff," said CPW wolf conservation program manager Eric Odell in a statement. 

"This new source population of gray wolves will provide additional genetic diversity to Colorado's wolf population." 

Chelsea Greer, the director of the wolf conservation program at the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, says B.C. offering up wolves from its wilderness is full of unknowns.

"It's all incredibly stressful and raises some welfare concerns," Greer said.

'Fairly grim'

Greer said the timing in capturing the animals now is not ideal.

She said it's currently breeding season for wolves, with social tensions and stress already high.

Greer argues wolf populations are also under threat in B.C. between hunting and the controversial wolf cull, which she says kills hundreds each year.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife estimates 5,300 to 11,600 wolves in the province, and Greer suggested an estimate of 6,000.

"They're both fairly grim," she said of the populations.

"We wouldn't say we're not for that reintroduction, but when you look at the fate of wolves potentially in Colorado and the fate of wolves in B.C., would the reintroduction in Colorado give them a better chance of survival? It's a difficult question to answer and one we won't really know until it potentially happens."

The program has also raised concerns from ranchers in Colorado concerned about wolves hunting their herds and flocks.

Rancher concerns

Tim Ritschard, with the Middle Park Stock Growers Association, told CNN that the state had seen livestock deaths after the first reintroduction.

"Two weeks, three weeks later, we were already starting to have animals be killed by wolves. We just didn't know what that was," Ritschard said.

CPW says it has put in place measures to prevent conflict with livestock like a range-rider program and "non-lethal tools." 

It also said the B.C. wolves will come from an area where livestock doesn't overlap, "so there are no concerns about reintroducing wolves that are from packs that are involved in situations of repeated livestock depredations."

But Ritschard's groups want a pause on this re-introduction.

"I don't know how they're gonna get these people ready or these non-lethals prepared when we don't even have 'em on the ground, ready to go."

Greer said whether or not wolves thrive in Colorado will depend not only on whether the animals adapt to their new environment but also on "tolerance and acceptance" for the animals from Colorado citizens.

B.C.'s Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship has been contacted for comment on this story.