Colorado authorities plan to capture up to 15 gray wolves from the interior of British Columbia to help Centenary officials restore the long-lost predator population.
In a statement, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) said its experts launched the non-lethal hunt on Friday in consultation with British Columbia's Ministry of Water, Land and Resources.
As CPW notes, wolves historically inhabited Colorado, but were hunted to extinction – local or regional extinction – in the 1940s.
In recent years, the state has sought to reintroduce the species after voters approved a ballot measure to reintroduce it.
In 2023, the first 10 wolves were imported from Oregon. CPW says the addition of British Columbia wolves will increase the chances of them mating, breeding and forming packs.
“We are excited to work with BC to combine our combined experience and expertise while ensuring the safety of animals and staff,” CPW wolf conservation program manager Eric Odell said in a statement.
“This new population of gray wolves will provide additional genetic diversity to Colorado's wolf population.”
Today our team began efforts to bring as many as 15 gray wolves from British Columbia to Colorado 🐺
Wolves will be captured and transported in cages to CO, collared and released as soon as possible upon arrival at selected locations in Garfield, Eagle and/or Pitkin Counties. pic.twitter.com/8wx6THqA6L
Chelsea Greer, director of the wolf conservation program at the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, says B.C.'s donation of wolves from the wild is full of unknowns.
“This is all extremely stressful and raises some concerns about well-being,” Greer said.
“Pretty Grim”
Greer said the current time to capture animals is not ideal.
She said it's currently wolf breeding season and social tensions and stress are already high.
Greer says wolf populations are also at risk in British Columbia between hunting and hunting controversial wolf cullwhich she says kill hundreds of people a year.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife estimates there are between 5,300 and 11,600 wolves in the province, and Greer suggested an estimate of 6,000.
“They're both pretty grim,” she said of the population.
“We wouldn't say we're not in favor of reintroduction, but when we look at the fate of wolves potentially in Colorado and the fate of wolves in British Columbia, would reintroduction in Colorado give them a better chance of survival? That's a difficult question to answer, and one we won't really know until it potentially happens. “
The program also raised concerns among farmers in Colorado concerned about wolves preying on their herds.
Rancher's concerns
Tim Ritschard of the Middle Park Cattlemen's Association told CNN that livestock deaths were reported in the state after the first reintroduction.
“Two or three weeks later we started killing animals by wolves. We just didn't know what it was,” Ritschard said.
CPW says it has put measures in place to prevent conflicts with farm animals, such as a rider program at the shooting range and “non-lethal tools.”
It also said BC's wolves would come from an area where livestock farming does not overlap, “so there is no concern about the reintroduction of wolves coming from packs that are involved in situations of repeated livestock depredation.”
However, Ritschard's groups want a break on the reintroduction.
“I don't know how they're going to prepare these people or the non-lethal ones if we don't even have them on the ground ready to go.”
Greer said whether wolves thrive in Colorado will depend not only on whether the animals adapt to their new environment, but also on the “tolerance and acceptance” of the animals from Colorado citizens.
The BC Ministry of Water, Land and Resources has been contacted for comment.