CPW Releases Gray Wolf Annual Report for Biological Year 2025-2026

May 7, 2026

GRAND JUNCTION– 

On May 7, 2026, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) issued its Gray Wolf Annual Report for biological year 2025-2026 from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026, and provided an update on the gray wolf restoration program to the Parks and Wildlife Commission. This report satisfies reporting requirements as specified in state statute (CRS 33-2-105.7 (4)), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Nonessential, Experimental Rule {10(j)}, and the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan.

This year’s annual report is the third produced by CPW and includes updates on: 

• Monitoring and biological management of Colorado’s gray wolf population
• Conflict minimization and depredation compensation
• Ongoing research being conducted by CPW and collaborators
• Interagency collaboration and outreach

“This year’s annual report highlights CPW’s continued efforts to refine and improve our wolf program on all levels ranging from monitoring, to conflict minimization and compensation, and public engagement,” said Laura Clellan, director of CPW. “While there is still important work to be done, the report presents a comprehensive picture of the expertise, continued dedication, and expanding capacity of our staff as we work with stakeholders to manage wolf restoration in Colorado.”

Biological Management and Monitoring
CPW biologists have identified a minimum population count of 32 gray wolves. Of the 32 wolves identified in Colorado, 24 are members of established packs (10 adults and 14 pups) with the remaining eight representing dispersing adult wolves.
 
The report also outlines the 10 mortalities experienced amongst adult gray wolves in Colorado, three of which are still under investigation by USFWS or CPW.

“Pup recruitment into the wolf population this year was very high, which is a sign of wolves’ ability to find one another, pair, reproduce, and make a go of it in Colorado, ” said Wolf Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell. “While we do not know what the future will hold, this is an encouraging sign of the biological success of our program and displays a positive trend in our wolf population size.”

This year’s report includes detailed information about pack composition for each of the four established packs in Colorado including minimum winter adult and pup counts, collared wolf ID numbers and minimum convex polygons of pack territories. 

“As packs are established and territories developed we are able to gain and share more insight into Colorado’s gray wolf population,” said Dr. Brenna Cassidy, wolf monitoring and data coordinator. “There will always be wolves who are not part of packs, and in the future they are likely to be uncollared wolves. As the population expands CPW will aim to maintain two GPS collars in each established pack to help track pack activity and territory as outlined in the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan.”

Conflict Minimization and Depredation Compensation
Throughout the 2025-2026 biological year CPW’s Wildlife Damage Specialists worked closely in collaboration with the agency’s Wolf Conflict Coordinator — as well as the agency’s dedicated field staff, and partnering organizations such as the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) — to provide viable, reasonable, and effective options for conflict minimization.

During this reporting period CPW conducted multiple depredation investigation trainings including two, multi-day, workshops in Fall 2025, a comprehensive range rider training in April 2025, and training covering predator hazing methods, including the use of drones. In addition to these training, CPW participated in over 20 outreach events spanning livestock producers to the general public and introducing audiences to non-lethal tools, efforts and strategies.

CPW has also made continued investments in deploying conflict minimization resources and expanding its stockpile for upcoming conflict seasons.

As outlined in this year's annual report, CPW conducted 78 additional site assessments (bringing the total site assessments conducted in Colorado to over 280), conducted 12 different night watch events and deployed 61 scare devices and more than 13 miles of fladry across 15 locations. 

At the end of the 2025-2026 biological year, CPW had an inventory of approximately 45 miles of fladry, and more than 500 scare devices. CPW will continue to accumulate additional conflict minimization resources in the coming years.

In addition to the deployment of “hard tools” (such as fladry and scare devices), contracted range riders were deployed during the reporting period. These riders focused on providing support in NW Colorado where they assisted 34 different producers during the 2025 conflict season.

“Our conflict minimization program has grown significantly over the early stages of wolf restoration,” said Ray Aberle, deputy assistant director of CPW’s Lands Unit. “There is no one-size fits all solution to wolf-livestock conflict. Through the expertise of our staff, ongoing training, and expanding hard tool resources, CPW continues to provide timely investigations and strategic response to depredations and wolf localization near working lands.”

CPW continues to provide fair market compensation to producers impacted by wolf depredation. This includes claims pertaining to direct losses as well as indirect claims as outlined in the approved Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan.

Ongoing Research
CPW currently has several research projects related to wolves in Colorado in pilot or testing stages. Projects cover a range of disciplines and topics such as ungulate responses to wolf recovery, wolf-livestock interactions, and social science/human dimension studies. Staff goals are to refine these projects over the coming years to develop and deploy rigorous long-term research efforts.

Through these ongoing research efforts CPW has collaborated with partners at Colorado State University, Colorado State University Extension, the USGS Colorado Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, the USDA-APHIS National Wildlife Research Center, and livestock producers.

Interagency Collaboration and Outreach
During the reporting period, CPW entered into Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with CDA regarding collaboration on reducing livestock-predator conflict and USDA-APHIS on nonlethal efforts and investigations of suspected depredations.

CPW continues to support public awareness and understanding of the wolf reintroduction work through multiple avenues including facilitation of in-person and virtual programs, publishing of a monthly email newsletter, and active engagement with Colorado’s media.

Additional information about the Gray Wolf Annual Report for biological year 2025-2026 can be found on the Colorado Outdoors Blog. 

The full report is available through CPW’s website.
 

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