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Apex predators captured in Canada to be flown to Colorado and released

Wildlife experts are in the process of capturing gray wolves from Canada in order to release them in Colorado, effectively doubling the state's small, recently reintroduced population.

Until recently, gray wolves were virtually extinct in Colorado, but state officials are going to great lengths to change that.

As many as 15 gray wolves will soon be released, all of them captured in British Columbia, Canada, Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced in a Jan. 11 news release. They will be put in crates, loaded into an aircraft and flown, then released in western Colorado, officials said.

The move comes after the state in 2023 reintroduced gray wolves, which were exterminated from Colorado in the 1940s through hunting, trapping and poisoning because the wolves had been targeting cattle and livestock.

The controversial effort to bring gray wolves back has had mixed success. Of the first 10 wolves brought in from Oregon, dubbed the Copper Creek pack, just six remain in the wild, with one having been recaptured and three killed, Coloradoan.com reported.

The pack has also preyed on livestock which, while not unexpected, prompted wildlife officials to relocate some of the wolves, McClatchy News reported.

Releasing the Canadian gray wolves will more than double the animal's population in the state—and officials are just getting started.

"CPW plans to release 10–15 gray wolves on the West Slope per year, for a total of three to five years, as outlined in the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan," Colorado Parks and Wildlife said.

Officials said the wolves being captured in Canada don't have a history of going after livestock.

"Gray wolves from this area of B.C. do not overlap with areas where livestock are present, so there are no concerns about reintroducing wolves that are from packs that are involved in situations of repeated livestock depredations."

Loss of livestock is a primary reason gray wolves were wiped out from Colorado in the 40s, and it's a real concern once again. As of August 2024, the Copper Creek pack had preyed on more than 24 livestock animals and three dogs, McClatchy reported, adding that the owners of those animals were reimbursed in cases where they filed claims.

The risks posed by reintroducing the wolves are small compared to potential benefits to the ecosystem, advocates say.

"You'd think the sky was falling, but the fact is, it's not. The fact is, wolves are being wolves. Most of the wolves that were reintroduced haven't gotten into problems with livestock," Rob Edward, president of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project told KCNC.