Officials have confirmed the first documentation of a wolf pack in Colorado in more than 70 years, Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced on Thursday.
DNA testing of scat samples from near an elk carcass in Moffat County, in northwestern Colorado, from January confirmed that the samples came from wolves.
The DNA results indicated three female wolves and one male wolf and showed that the wolves were related, likely as full siblings.
“We don’t know where or when they were born," Colorado Parks and Wildlife species conservation manager Eric Odell said in a CPW news release. "We can’t say. But that there are closely related wolves is a pretty significant finding.”
In January, CPW officials confirmed a sighting of six wolves about two miles from where the elk carcass was discovered. The officers heard "distinct" howls" in the area before spotting the wolves through binoculars, the news release said.
The wolves were gone by the time officers headed their direction for a closer look. The tracks measured about 4.5 to 5.5 inches, according to CPW.
A pack of wolves was also reportedly sighted in the same area in October.
Gov. Jared Polis called the January sighting "historic."
"While lone wolves have visited our state periodically including last fall, this is very likely the first pack to call our state home since the 1930s," Polis said. "I am honored to welcome our canine friends back to Colorado after their long absence."...
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1 comment:
Tell Polis to start feeding the wolves his cats and dogs, and then he can start by buying sheep and calves to feed the wolves also. Just think you hunters that the biggest competitor to hunting wildlife is now in the state of Colorado. But you probably don't care since most of you don't hunt any more and the Evil Empire (G&Fish) could care less also.
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