Overview
Canis lupus
Gray Wolf Menu
Grey wolf. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.The gray wolf ranges across Eurasia and in North America from the Arctic to Mexico and from coast to coast. Once distributed statewide, the wolf is gone from Colorado. The last ones were killed by about 1940. Sometimes called "timber wolf" (to distinguish it from the coyote, or "prairie wolf"), wolves actually occupy a wide range of habitats. Once wolves fed on the vast herds of bison, elk and deer, supplemented by rabbits, rodents and carrion.

When market hunters decimated the large mammals that were their staple diet, wolves naturally turned to a new food resource in the developing frontier: livestock. Because of their depredations of domestic animals, wolves in Colorado were systematically eradicated by shooting, trapping and poisoning.

Wolves are large dogs, up to five feet long (of which 14 inches is a bushy tail). The color is pale gray washed with buff and overlain on the back and legs with black.

Wolves den in burrows in banks where the female bears six to 10 pups in March after a nine-week gestation period. The male provides food for the nursing mother. A pair may have a hunting territory 10 square miles.

Proposals have been made to restore wolves to wilderness ecosystems of Colorado, where they could provide a natural check on populations of elk, for example. The suggestions have met with considerable opposition from some ranchers, however.

  • Think you’ve seen a wolf in Colorado? Help biologists by filling out the Wolf Sighting Form . Please right click on the link and choose "Save Target As..." to save the RTF file to your computer.
What is an Extirpated Species?
An extirpated species is an animal that no longer exists in the wild in its historical habitat, but still exists elsewhere. An example of a species extirpated in Colorado is the gray wolf. Although gray wolves no longer exist in the wilds of Colorado, they can be found in captivity in zoos and wildlife parks.
Gray Wolf Management
Wolf, credit Loyse HinkleColorado is part of the gray wolf’s native range, but wolves were eradicated from the state by the mid-1930s. Over the past decade, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has restored gray wolves into Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Arizona, and some observers believe it is only a matter of time before wolves start migrating into Colorado from the north and south.

Researchers say dispersing wolves—especially single male wolves—can travel long distances. To prepare for any future wolf migrations into Colorado, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has set up a multi-disciplinary work group that developed a draft Wolf Management Plan. The wolf working group's recommendations were adopted in their entirety by the Colorado Wildlife Commission at their May 2005 meeting.

Have you seen a Wolf?
Probable Wolf Sighting

On February 16, 2007 district wildlife managers with the CPW were able to capture a brief video of a suspected wolf about 10 miles south of the Colorado-Wyoming border north of Walden. Biologists and wolf specialists who have examined the video say the animal seen on tape looks and behaves like a wolf.

For more information, see the press release.

Think you’ve seen a wolf in Colorado? Help biologists by filling out the Wolf Sighting Form . Please right click on the link and choose "Save Target As..." to save the RTF file to your computer.


Working Group Information

Guidelines

The primary purposes of this document are to:

  • Provide guidance to CPW employees for responding to reports of gray wolves in Colorado (e.g., current contact points, addresses and telephone numbers), and
  • Provide brief information on gray wolf biology and current state policies regarding gray wolves to assist CPW employees responding to public inquiries.

Note: These are PDF files. Figure 1 is a large, 2 MB file. Use the "Zoom in tool" on the Adobe toolbar to zoom in on the figures/maps.

  • Guidelines
  • Figure 1:  North Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Areas & Pack Locations  (2 MB)
  • Figure 2:  Previous Gray Wolf Listing Status, Proposed Listing Status, & Final Listing Status
  • Figure 3:  Defenders of Wildlife Wolf Compensation Trust Action Locations



        Last Updated: 10/31/2012 10:00 PM