Update! Colorado Parks And Wildlife Comes To The Rescue To Recollar A Male Wolf

On Saturday, February 18, 2023, staff from CPW were able to recapture and refit the collar of male wolf 2101 near North Park. Pictured left to right: CPW Species Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell and CPW Area 10 Wildlife Manager Kris Middledorf. Photo by CPW Senior Video Producer Jerry Neal. 

February 23rd, Update!

On Saturday, February 18th, staff members from Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) were able to recapture and refit the collar on wolf 2101 near North Park. As previously reported by WAN, wolf #2101 was fitted with a GPS collar earlier in the month along with wolf #2301.

As per a statement yesterday on the CPW website, wolf #2101’s collar came off soon after the early February attempt to secure him with a new one. This recollaring of wolf #2101 means two male gray wolves are again fitted with collars in Colorado.

The collaring effort was conducted in conjunction with elk and moose capture efforts for ongoing research studies in the area.

CPW placed GPS collars on two wolves in North Park on Feb. 2. Male wolf 2101 has a gray coat and is in the foreground on the right. Male wolf 2301 has a black coat and is in the background on the left. Photos from Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

February 6th, 2023 

Last Thursday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife placed GPS collars on two male wolves in North Park, Colorado. Wolf #2301 is presumably one of six pups birthed by female wolf #1084 and male wolf #2101 in 2021. The second wolf, #2101, was recaptured after two years in order to update his tracking collar.

Some hopeful news as the wolves naturally migrated to Jackson County, Colorado. This is not the result of wolf reintroduction efforts as no wolves have been reintroduced to Colorado under Proposition 114.

“Both animals were caught together in an area of North Park where we have been receiving reports from the public in the past couple of weeks,” CPW Species Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell said in a statement. Odell was part of the capture team working to collar wolves in North Park along with CPW Wildlife Research Scientist Ellen Brandell and CPW Wildlife Veterinarian Pauline Nol. “We would like to thank the public for sending in their wolf sightings.”

CPW’s team was working on capturing and collaring wolves in conjunction with elk and moose capture efforts for ongoing research studies in the area.

“2101’s collar had failed, and we could see it was damaged. Wolves are rough on collars and that’s to be expected that in time collars will fail,” explained Odell.

“Refitting #2101 and having a second GPS collar will allow our biologists and wildlife managers to continue learning about the behavior of these wolves,” noted CPW Acting Director Heather Disney Dugan.

During the collaring effort, a CPW-contracted company safely darted the animal with a tranquilizer from a helicopter, allowing the collar to be fitted by field staff on the ground.

According to Odell, “Both animals were given a health exam during the collaring process and appear to be in good health.”

It is worth noting that, while collars provide valuable information, they only provide a snapshot and are not monitored in real time. The primary tools used by wildlife officers are field observations of physical evidence, such as wolf prints and scat during field investigations to verify the presence of wolves on the landscape.

CPW also encourages the public to use its wolf sighting form if they notice a suspected wolf. Any personal observations, photos or videos taken can help inform CPW staff and fill in the gaps as to wolf activity in the state.

#RelistWolves is a campaign launched by a coalition of NGO’s, scientists, concerned citizens, and political campaign strategists, that aims to ensure that all wolves in the United States are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Please take action by asking your representatives to put pressure on Deb Haaland and President Biden to #RelistWolves, HERE!