DENVER— In a landmark moment for wildlife recovery, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has confirmed three new wolf families — the One Ear, King Mountain and Three Creeks packs. They join the already established Copper Creek pack, which also welcomed new pups. While the total number of pups is still to be determined there are a minimum of four pups in the King Mountain pack.

“Like so many Coloradans, I’m thrilled to hear of new wolf families and puppy paws on the ground,” said Alli Henderson, southern Rockies director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The howl of wolves rising once more in this iconic landscape signals real progress toward restoring balance in Colorado’s wild places.”

This news marks a major success for Colorado’s science-based wolf reintroduction program. The program was launched after voters passed Proposition 114 in 2020, requiring the state to establish a self-sustaining population of gray wolves.

“I’m hopeful these budding packs will thrive and become the foundation for Colorado’s successful restoration of gray wolves to their rightful home,” said Henderson. “Wolves belong in Colorado.”

Wolves live in close-knit family groups known as packs. During denning the pack cooperatively hunts to provide food for their growing family. Young wolves can begin breeding after they reach two years of age so they can leave their pack to start their own families in new territories. These dispersals aid in recolonization of wolves in new habitats across the state.

State wildlife and agricultural agencies provide a suite of resources to prevent conflicts between wolves and livestock, including carcass removal, range-rider programs and nonlethal deterrents. These are available to livestock producers at no cost or at highly subsidized rates. Non-lethal conflict prevention tools are key to a comprehensive strategy that supports coexistence between wolves and rural communities.

To help fund this, Colorado Parks and Wildlife today stated that the Born to Be Wild license plate had brought in over $900,000 to support and fund non-lethal coexistence measures as of July 1.

The Center will continue to work closely with state agencies, conservation allies and communities to ensure that Colorado’s wolves are protected, respected and given every chance to thrive.

Background
Gray wolves once ranged widely across the United States, including throughout Colorado, until they were nearly driven to extinction by government-sponsored extermination campaigns.

In 2020 Colorado became the first state to mandate wolf reintroduction by ballot initiative. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has since released wolves in Grand, Summit, Eagle and Pitkin counties with wolves sourced from Oregon and British Columbia. The program intends to restore a self-sustaining population of gray wolves in the state, built upon the release of 30 to 50 wolves over several years.

Scientific research has consistently shown that wolves play a vital role in maintaining healthy ecosystems, benefiting biodiversity and improving habitat quality through natural regulation of prey species.