State wildlife officials are not planning to bring any new wolves to the state this year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced Wednesday.
The news comes a day after the agency confirmed another gray wolf has died, bringing the total number of translocated wolves that have died since reintroduction began to 11, or nearly half of the 25 wolves released in Colorado between December 2023 and 2025.
The announcement also follows an October directive from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ordering Colorado to stop importing wolves from Canada, which stalled the state’s plan to relocate 10 to 15 wolves from British Columbia.
What the pause in translocations means for Colorado’s goal of establishing a self-sustaining wolf population depends on several factors, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said, including the reproduction and survival of the wolves currently roaming the state.
Four packs have successfully bred litters and wildlife staff is working to determine how many pups made it through the summer, according to the agency. Female gray wolves give birth to an average litter of four to six pups.
“It is not possible to predict the impact of foregoing a third year of translocations without knowing what may occur in the coming year,” Eric Odell, CPW’s wolf program manager said in a statement Wednesday.
“If mortality remains high, as observed in 2025, the risk of failing to achieve a self-sustaining wolf population in Colorado increases, potentially requiring additional resources to address.”
Colorado officials have been releasing wolves west of the Continental Divide since December 2023 after voters narrowly approved wolf reintroduction in 2020. The management plan envisions potentially 200 or more wolves roaming the state in the long term.
The program has been unpopular in rural areas, where some wolves have attacked livestock, despite several attempts to minimize wolf-livestock conflicts, including nighttime patrols and herd protection.
CPW said it continues to “explore options” for acquiring more wolves in the 2026-27 winter season.
In the meantime, the agency said it will continue to meet with ranchers to implement tactics to minimize conflicts. CPW plans to expand its range riding program this year “to meet the needs of producers during their open ranging seasons.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
