Eight wolves still live in the wild in Colorado. Here they were in September

Colorado Parks and Wildlife released a new map on Wednesday, September 25, tracking the movements of the eight remaining wolves in the wild.

According to the latest map, these wolves have continued to explore areas in Eagle, Summit, Grand, Jackson and Routt counties. These are mostly the same counties where the wolves roamed in AugustTheir movements are less extensive on the latest map, which shows wolf activity between August 27 and September 24.

In September, the map that uses Colorado’s watershed boundaries to show where wolves have been spotted shows a gap in Jackson County’s northernmost watershed. According to Parks and Wildlife, this likely has to do with how the collars work and how quickly the wolves move.

“If wolves move fast enough, a GPS point may not be captured in every watershed they pass through,” the agency explained. “GPS points are currently collected every four hours.”

According to the state agency, the wolves still have not moved south of Interstate 70.

While a wolf was discovered in Rocky Mountain National Park in August, the wolf has since moved as the latest map shows no activity in the area or Larimer County.

In the past 30 days, the number of roaming Colorado wolves has fallen from 15 to eight, with two of the collared wolves dying and the Copper Creek pack being relocated.

The adult male from the Copper Creek pack died in captivity on September 3rd. The wolf was found with a hind leg injury and an infection during relocation measures after the pack was involved in several cattle thefts. The female and four wolf pups were also captured and remain in captivity. Another adult male wolf died Monday, September 9, in Grand County. The cause of both deaths in September is still under investigation.

While Parks and Wildlife had previously stated that the Copper Creek Pack was responsible for the majority of wolf-related livestock deaths since reintroduction, the agency has since confirmed this a wolf predation that occurred on September 9th in Grand Countyfour days after the Copper Creek Pack was removed from the area. A calf and a cow were involved in the looting.

In addition to publicizing the wolves’ recent movements, the agency hired five new wildlife damage specialists in September. The goal of these employees, according to Parks and Wildlife, is to “assist with predator surveys, site assessments, rapid deployment of resources and public outreach.”

It was also recently announced that the next 15 wolves will come from British Columbia. The wolves are released in northwest Colorado between December and March.