It’s been more than two years since Gov. Jared Polis opened metal crates in northwest Colorado, kicking off a voter-mandated effort to restore wolves almost a century after hunters and trappers eradicated the species from the state.
So how’s it going so far?
In an annual report presented to the state wildlife commission on Thursday, state wildlife managers acknowledged that the project sits at a critical crossroads.
Colorado failed to find any state or tribal nation willing to offer a third batch of wolves for the reintroduction project last winter. Without a new infusion of wolves, Eric Odell, the wolf conservation program manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said the future of the population now depends on the state’s existing wolves producing pups later this spring.
“The population of wolves could expand in both size and distribution, moving us toward the recovery,” Odell said. “However, with even just one year of lower survival, high mortality or low recruitment, additional years of reintroduction may be necessary.”
The annual progress report, detailing the program from April 2025 through March 2026, comes as Colorado’s restoration project struggles with high wolf mortality rates and increased federal scrutiny from the Trump administration. It’s also set for a major leadership change. During the meeting, Odell confirmed his plans to retire at the end of July after six years at the helm of the state’s wolf efforts and a 26-year career with CPW.
His successor will inherit a controversial attempt to create a self-sustaining wolf population in a state packed with people and livestock. The presentation for commissioners offered the latest details on the current wolf population and the state’s efforts to minimize ongoing conflicts with ranchers.
The CPW estimates that at least 32 wolves were roaming the state at the end of March 2026. That’s roughly double the last official count taken in 2024. That estimate, however, didn’t include 15 wolves from British Columbia released in January 2025, said Dr. Brenna Cassidy, the agency’s wolf monitoring and data coordinator.
Out of those 32 wolves, 24 live in a set of four established packs, according to the report. Those family groups include the One Ear pack, the King Mountain pack, the Copper Creek pack and the Three Creeks pack.
A map in the report shows the state’s wolves most frequently visit watersheds in northwest Colorado, where the One Ear pack, King Mountain pack and Three Creeks pack have established territory. The Copper Creek pack lives in the Roaring Fork Valley around Aspen, which is also a wolf hot spot.
It’s also clear that packs tend to roam far less than individuals, according to data from GPS tracking collars. An animation shared by Cassidy showed a wolf in an established pack bouncing inside a tight territory, while another individual outside an established family group wandered vast distances across the state.
“Wolves in packs cover far, far less area. This does make wolves somewhat more predictable, which can benefit both monitoring and conflict minimization, though it’s challenging for those people in those areas,” Cassidy said.
The report also notes that 10 wolves died over the last year. The cause of three of those deaths is still under investigation. The others died due to a range of causes, including a mountain lion attack, a vehicle strike and a failed attempt to replace a tracking collar. Multiple wolves were also shot after wandering into other states or through state efforts to remove individuals responsible for repeatedly attacking livestock.
All those deaths put the state’s wolf survival rate at 61%. Under Colorado’s wolf management plan, the wildlife managers must review their capture, transportation and release protocols if the rate drops below 70%.
According to the report, CPW found that none of the wolf deaths were caused by those protocols and determined a further review “was not warranted.”
CPW also confirmed 43 incidents where wolves killed livestock, including 19 cattle, 23 sheep and one working dog. The state paid more than $43,000 to compensate ranchers, plus an additional roughly $710,000 for claims related to missing livestock and decreased conception rates.
To read more stories from Colorado Public Radio, visit www.cpr.org.