A 3-year-old gray wolf died last week as a state wildlife team tried to place a collar on the animal to monitor its activity across the state, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said Tuesday.
The breeding male wolf was part of the King Mountain Pack, a wolf family that formed last spring in Routt County. The wolf was one of the 10 wolves brought to Colorado from Oregon.
Under Colorado’s wolf reintroduction plan, CPW said it tries to keep at least two members of each pack collared. The existing collars on the breeding adults in the pack had low batteries.
After staff captured the wolf last Wednesday, it was unresponsive, the agency said. State wildlife officials tried to resuscitate the wolf, but determined it had died.
Results from a necropsy performed at the agency’s lab in Fort Collins are pending. The tests will help determine if there were any underlying conditions that contributed to the wolf’s death.
An independent veterinary pathologist was also present for the necropsy and will confirm the exam’s results, CPW said.
“All wildlife capture operations come with a risk, and 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,” Laura Clellan, acting director for CPW said in a statement Tuesday.
Summer counts showed there were four pups in the King Mountain Pack, all four which were seen during the operation, CPW said. State wildlife officials captured and collared the adult female and one pup from the pack.
It’s still unclear what impact the wolf’s death could have on the pack’s long-term future, Eric Odell, CPW’s wolf conservation program manager, said.
“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,” Odell said.
The wolf’s death brings the total number of translocated wolves that have died since the start of the reintroduction program to 12 out of 25. Another wolf, an offspring of the translocated wolves, was killed by CPW after it had preyed on livestock.
Last month, CPW announced that wildlife officials are not planning to bring new wolves to Colorado this year.
Type of Story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.