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Colorado's gray wolves roamed closer to metro Denver, farther south in mountains

Colorado's collared gray wolves continued to travel widely last month—even roaming in watersheds that reach into the western portions of metro Denver, according to a new map released this week by state wildlife officials.

Reintroduced wolves were tracked in watersheds from the Utah border in Mesa County, in the west, to the edge of Hinsdale County in the south and to the Wyoming border in Jackson County in the north.

The map, which covers activity between March 25 and Tuesday of this week, also shows wolf activity in watersheds that cover densely populated areas farther east, including Boulder, Jefferson and Douglas counties. But Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said that doesn't necessarily translate to wolves near cities.

"While these areas lit up due to brief movement on the western fringes of these watersheds, it does not mean that wolves were or are currently in high human-density areas," state officials wrote in an update Thursday.

This month's map release was delayed slightly. Earlier this week, CPW noted the delay on its website, citing a policy of holding back the map "if doing so protects wolf welfare during sensitive times of the year (e.g., mating season)." It did not specify the reason, however.

The monthly maps show areas where at least one collared wolf traveled within the boundaries of a watershed, but the animal may not have been active throughout the entire area, according to CPW.

One female wolf has traveled more than 1,230 miles since it was released in January and was responsible for most of the activity in southern watersheds last month, wildlife officials said.

The map shows a line of wolf activity starting near Utah and moving east through Montrose, Delta, Ouray, Gunnison and Chaffee counties.

The wolf's movements are "an extraordinary display of the species' natural exploratory behavior," CPW leaders wrote in the update.

Colorado has agreements with Utah, New Mexico and Arizona to recapture wolves that wander into those states and return them to Colorado, a move aimed at protecting the genes of the Mexican gray wolf.

Two of Colorado's gray wolves died in Wyoming in the last month, one of which was shot by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services after it was connected to livestock killings in the state. A third gray wolf died in Rocky Mountain National Park this week. That wolf's death is under investigation.