A 3-year-old gray wolf died last week in northwestern Colorado after an attempt by state wildlife officers to capture it during a collaring operation.
The breeding male was part of the King Mountain Pack, one of four known wolf packs in the state, according to a news release from Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The pack formed last spring in Routt County.
CPW officials decided Tuesday to pause wolf capture operations while the agency evaluates the death.
This is the second confirmed wolf death in Colorado this year. The first was a female gray wolf in northwest Colorado on Jan. 16, according to the agency.
State wildlife officials try to keep at least two members of each wolf pack collared as part of Colorado’s wolf reintroduction plan, according to the release. Doing so allows officials to monitor their movements across the state.
CPW staff members recently noticed that the batteries of the collars on the adult wolves in the King Mountain Pack were running low and launched the January operation to replace them.
“All wildlife capture operations come with a risk,” Laura Clellan, the agency’s acting director, said in the release. “While we meticulously prepare and take every precaution to ensure a positive outcome, there is always the possibility, even if small, that the worst happens.”
“These sorts of capture efforts are a routine part of CPW’s wolf monitoring efforts and the program has had very successful capture operations up to this point,” Clellan continued.
She said state wildlife officers and contractors carefully followed guidelines from the agency’s animal care and use committee when capturing the wolf on Jan. 28, but the animal was unresponsive after capture.
“Our team initiated resuscitation efforts but determined the animal had died,” Clellan said.
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A female adult wolf and a pup were both successfully captured and collared during last week’s operation, according to the release. All four of the pack’s known pups were spotted in the wild.
“It’s not yet possible to understand the long term implications to the King Mountain Pack as a result of this mortality,” Wolf Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell said in the release. “We will continue to monitor this pack to evaluate their status and how they are contributing to the establishment of a self-sustaining wolf population in Colorado.”
The state now has 18 collared wolves, plus others without collars including an unknown number of pups across all the packs.
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