Wolves in Colorado

[ThunderSquirrel]

Here's the article from a few years back when they tracked a radio collared wolf to Eagle County.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_11784099

The same article references the one that was hit on I70, and the video of a supposed wolf taken near Walden.

[ronaldrwl]

I don't think so, The coyotes are huge in Colorado. Easy to mistake them for wolves

[Colorado Osprey]

Hasn't this been discussed before?

http://www.ar-15.co/threads/32183-Wo...ghlight=wolves
back in 2010...

I personally had a sighting in 1986 on the Air Force Academy.
A couple of years ago the Colorado DOW confirmed wolves in Colorado from sightings at the Academy.

[Colorado Osprey]

whoops duplicate

[runninlope]

I wouldnt know why wolves wouldnt migrate down into colorado. They have been natives here before, and being the roaming dogs they are pretty good chance they follow the hills and creek bottoms here. But i would think most "Sightings" are yotes being that i have shot a few GIANTS lol that were still just yotes. Ive also seen grey and almost all black yotes before, along with all the bald ones i've seen the last year, that definatly dont make it through winter.

[FJoakley]

Yes they can and proboblywill Migrate to Colorado. That doesnt mean we should want them here. It should be legal to hunt them from wolf one. Remeber 1 wolf needs 13 elk a year to survive. If we want to have elk to hunt we dont need a sustained wolf community here.

[Great-Kazoo]

We saw one about 13 years ago outside steamboat. Biggest fuker on 4 legs i've ever seen, of the canis species that is. Mixed feelings on shooting one, but hey that's my choice.

[jgang]

I have a place in the Black Hills of Wyoming where I'm sure wolves have come through. A buddy across the border in Custer, SD, caught a wolf on a trailcam last spring. Two weeks later, that same animal was shot by a rancher 7 miles away. The DNA tests confirmed that the wolf came from a pack in the Wisconsin/Minnesota area. About 3 months later, another wolf was hit by a car along the SD/NE border. If I recall correctly, that wolf came from the Greater Yellowstone area as verified by DNA tests. Colorado is a short jaunt, comparatively speaking, for a wolf from the Yellowstone area....no question they're around. But despite sightings, there are not enough wolves in Colorado (yet) to have any significant impact on any ungulate populations. One or two here, sure, but I'd venture to guess more deer and elk are hit by cars than are killed by wolves in Colorado every year. I'd just like to see one in the wild. I, personally, wouldn't shoot one unless I was in danger or losing livestock. Wolves vs elk/deer? That's the natural order of things. Wyoming, realizing the expanding numbers of wolves was impacting herd populations and taking numerous livestock, finally opened a wolf season this year in the NW part of the state. They need to be properly managed like any other species.

[hatidua]

If wolves eat domesticated deer, I'd like a full pack delivered to Boulder as soon as possible.

[denverco]

Without a doubt, Colorado is Disneyland for elk fanatics. According to Todd Malmsbury, chief of the information agency for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the state had a post-hunt statewide population of nearly 300,000 animals in 2002. There are so many elk in Colorado that many areas have more elk than state biologists' long-term objectives call for. This is in a state where a century ago the population was less than 2,000 animals.