In a press release issued yesterday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) updated the public about the recent movements of 10 gray wolves that were captured in Oregon and released on the Centennial State’s Western Slope last winter. According to the release, two of the wolves are no longer emitting signals from GPS collars they were wearing during their December release. Another has died, likely of natural causes.
The press release included a statement from the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) about the deceased wolf. “On April 18, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service became aware of a deceased gray wolf in Larimer County, CO,” that statement reads. “As a federally listed species under the Endangered Species Act, the Service is investigating and has sent the carcass for a necropsy to determine the cause of death.”
Until the necropsy is completed, the USFWS won’t say for sure what killed the wolf, but initial evidence suggests that its death was not human caused. The agency went on to confirm that the dead wolf “was one of the ten recently released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in December 2023.”