It’s been a whirlwind for Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) since the public voted to reintroduce wolves to the Centennial State in 2020, as well as negotiating a deal with Oregon to get dogs and facing a last-minute lawsuit filed through local ranchers (successfully). to block the effort. But while CPW released 10 wolves in Grand, Summit and Eagle counties last December, it’s only the first step toward a successful reintroduction. Here’s what we can expect in the coming years.
Wolves will most likely claim their first victims just days after their release. Moose are expected to make up the majority of their diet, which will also include deer and moose, as well as farm animals and, occasionally, small mammals.
CPW can’t wait when wolves will identify new territories, whose diversity ranges from 20 to 120 square miles, yet canids reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995 began creating diversity 35 to 40 days after their release.
Since established packs do not settle for lone wolves, those released in the coming winters will most likely mate with wolves released at the same time or with wild-born young adults who have abandoned their birth pack.
Mating season takes place in February, and while it’s possible that some of the wolves released in late 2023 will mate immediately, a CPW spokesperson says most of the animals will most likely mate for the first time in early 2025.
Gestation lasts only nine weeks, which means that the first litters (between four and six domestic dogs) will arrive in April. Packs are made up of between six and ten wolves: a breeding pair, their offspring from the previous year or two, and existing wolves. litter of the year.
It will take 3 to 5 years for CPW to release the 30 to 50 wolves requested in its reintroduction plan, a time frame and number that depends on the good luck of the states cooperating in capturing wolves for relocation to Colorado and the survival rate of the new ones. . Residents.
The life expectancy of wolves is about six years in the wild, so by the mid-2030s, all wolves in the Centennial State are expected to be born in Colorado or transplanted from neighboring states that cross the border on their own.
The purpose of the CPW is to build a self-sufficient population, but it does not have a timeline for achieving this purpose. Instead, once Colorado’s wolf population reaches at least 50 Americans for 4 consecutive years, the CPW commission will demote the state’s endangered animals. to the state of threat. Then, once the company counts at least 150 wolves two years in a row (or two hundred wolves at any given time), it will eliminate the species entirely.
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