Some of Colorado’s released wolves wandered into Moffat County, per GPS collar data

Two months after their release, two of Colorado’s reintroduced wolves have reached Moffat County, the farthest reported location from initial release sites in Grand and Summit counties.

Collar data showed the two wolves “have made some broad movements in the last week and indicates some wolves have recently moved from western Routt County into eastern Moffat County,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Rachel Gonzales wrote in an email sent to the Coloradoan on Saturday.

There have been few confirmed sightings of the 10 wolves released in late December. Photos and videos on social media have shown wolves around the Kremmling area, which is near where some of the wolves were released.

The wolves seen in eastern Moffat County would be approximately 70 miles northwest of their release sites. One of those release sites was near the Radium State Wildlife area southwest of Kremmling.

Wolves widely wander and can travel 30 miles or more per day. Craig, the Moffat County seat, is located near the eastern edge of the county.

Moffat County residents have strongly opposed the state’s wolf reintroduction, with 83% of its voters opposing Proposition 114, the narrowly passed ballot measure that mandated wolves be reintroduced west of the Continental Divide starting in 2023.

The county was home to a wolfpack in 2020 but that pack disappeared a year later, with some of its wolves legally killed just across the border in Wyoming.

The recent GPS tracking locations would put the wolves around 30 miles from the Wyoming border.

All 10 of Colorado’s released wolves captured in Oregon are fitted with GPS collars, as are the only two known remaining members of the North Park pack, whose parents naturally migrated into Colorado and gave birth to the state’s first pups in 80 years.

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Gonzales pointed out in the email that location points are at most collected every four hours and data is downloaded every 16 hours.

“Wolves can and do move substantial distances between the four hours that points are collected, and the terrain and weather can impact when points are received,” she wrote. “This data gives us an informed perspective of where wolves have been, but not where they are, and certainly not where they are going.”

Colorado Parks and Wildlife was widely criticized for a lack of transparency and communication regarding the wolf releases that took place Dec. 18-22.

To address some of the criticism, the agency released a map to help show general areas where wolves have been in the previous month and pledged to update that map monthly.

Another criticism centered on five of the 10 released wolves coming from packs in Oregon with recent livestock depredations.

None of Colorado’s released wolves had depredated on livestock a month after their release. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has not indicated any depredations between then and now.

“CPW continues to work with livestock producers to provide conflict-mitigation techniques, and will continue to conduct outreach/education in areas that are likely to have wolves,” Gonzales wrote.

Gonzales said the wildlife agency receives hundreds of reports of wolf sightings per year. She said the agency cannot validate every informal sighting but that staff reviews all credible reports submitted through its wolf sighting form.

She said the agency continues to encourage anyone who sees a wolf or wolf tracks to submit a report.