Copper Creek wolf pups, mother will return to the wild this winter

After being in captivity for more than three months, the Copper Creek wolf pack‘s adult female and four pups will be released back into the wild as early as January. 

Colorado Parks and Wildlife expects the releases to happen on roughly the same timeline as the release of up to 15 wolves from British Columbia, according to an email Wednesday from Travis Duncan, the agency’s public information supervisor. 

While these releases are expected to occur between January and March in Eagle, Pitkin, or Garfield counties, the exact details around when and where will not be determined until capture and release operations are underway, according to the agency. 

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Duncan added, “Many factors will play a role in this decision, including logistics, timing, and the presence of other wolves.”

The five wolves were captured and brought to a wildlife sanctuary in early September after the pack was tied to numerous livestock killings in Grand County. The pack’s adult male was also captured but died four days later in captivity following injuries it had sustained in the wild. 

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At the time, Parks and Wildlife reported that while the male was known to have been involved in the livestock killings, there was no evidence that the pups had been involved. When captured, the agency had not determined whether the female would be re-released, stating the pups’ best chance at survival would be the determining factor.

“It is important for the pups to be released with the female, so they can learn to hunt, giving the pack the best chance for survival,” stated Duncan this week when noting that all five will be released. 

All five wolves are in good condition and will be collared and closely monitored upon release, he added. 

Following the pack’s capture, a fifth wolf pup from the pack was spotted in Grand County. After attempts by the agency to capture the pup and reunite it with its pack failed, the uncollared pup remains in the wild.  

The Copper Creek pack and new wolves from British Columbia will join Colorado’s nine known wolves on the landscape — six from the 10 reintroduced last December, two that were in Colorado before reintroduction, and the one uncollared pup from the pack. 

Wildlife advocacy groups have applauded the wolves’ imminent release. 

“We are breathing a sigh of relief to learn that the Copper Creek Pack, the breeding female included, will be returned to the wild after being recaptured this past summer,” said Kaitie Schneider, Defenders of Wildlife’s Colorado representative, in a statement. 

Ranchers, however, are not as optimistic about their return to the wild. 

On Tuesday, Tim Ritschard, president of the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association, expressed concerns that the Copper Creek pack would go back to killing livestock if released. Middle Park was the site of the depredations this spring associated with the pack. 

“That’s going to be Middle Park 2.0 wherever they go. If they come back to Middle Park, we’re going to be Middle Park 2.0,” he said. “But if it’s going to be somewhere else, then I will bet by July of next year, we’re having the same conversation about removing the pups and removing that pack.”

The Middle Park Stockgrowers Association is one of 26 organizations that petitioned the Parks and Wildlife Commission to pause reintroduction efforts. The petition asks that the wildlife agency fully fund and implement seven specific items to minimize conflict with livestock before any more wolves are introduced in Colorado. This includes defining chronic depredation and mandating lethal take requirements when the definition is met, rolling out programs for range riding, and other conflict minimization tools, and more. 

While the commission has yet to rule on the matter, Jeff Davis, the executive director of Parks and Wildlife, told the legislative Joint Budget Committee this week that it is “in the process of finalizing, have finalized, or will finalize addressing all seven of those concerns.”

On multiple occasions, Davis and Parks and Wildlife officials have stated that the decision to capture the Copper Creek pack will not create a precedent for how it will handle wolf conflict in the future. 

“The situation with the Copper Creek pack in Middle Park was very unique, as the male was involved in multiple depredations and removing him at that time while the female was denning and he was the sole source of food would likely have been fatal to the pups and counter to the restoration mandate,” he said in a news release last week.