Colorado has found a source for the next 15 gray wolves that will be released into the state’s northern reintroduction zone. 

Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced Friday that British Columbia will provide up to 15 wolves this winter through a partnership with the B.C. Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship. 

Up to 15 wolves will be captured in the Canadian province and relocated to Colorado between December 2024 and March 2025. 

The wolves will be released in the northern zone as outlined in Colorado’s Wolf Restoration and Management Plan. This area follows the Interstate 70 corridor between Glenwood Springs and Vail and down into the Roaring Fork Valley. 

Colorado’s first 10 wolves came from Oregon, and state officials were expecting to receive 15 additional wolves from The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington this year. However, in June, the Washington tribe announced it would no longer provide the state with the wolves citing public objection in Colorado to the wolves.

With a new source secured, Parks and Wildlife is on track with its restoration and management plan, which states the agency will release 10 to 15 gray wolves on the West Slope per year, for a total of 3 to 5 years. 

Parks and Wildlife will start capture operations this winter, with British Columbia providing assistance in planning and carrying out the operation. Parks and Wildlife will be responsible for all costs associated with the capture and transport. Once wolves are captured in Canada, they will be tested and treated for disease and evaluated for relocation. 

Per the wolf restoration and management plan, Parks and Wildlife is not to reintroduce any wolves with major injuries nor any that are from packs currently involved in repeated livestock depredations. 

All wolves that are reintroduced will be collared and transported to Colorado via airplane and/or truck as soon as possible to minimize stress on the animals. 

The first 10 wolves were captured in Oregon using a helicopter and spotter plane. Nine of these wolves were transported in aluminum crates to Colorado using a private aircraft, with one wolf arriving in the state in a vehicle. 

Only seven of the wolves reintroduced in December 2023 are still alive. The state also has four wolf pups from the Copper Creek Pack, who are being held in captivity, as well as two wolves that were in the state prior to its reintroduction efforts.  

The first death among Colorado’s reintroduced wolves occurred in April following a mountain lion attack. A second adult male from the Copper Creek Pack died in captivity on Sept. 3. The wolf was found with a hind leg injury and infection during relocation operations after the pack was tied to several livestock depredations. A third adult male wolf died on Monday, Sept. 9. The cause of both deaths in September are still being investigated.