JACKSON COUNTY, Colorado — A gray wolf that was spotted near Walden in Jackson County earlier this week is confirmed to be from Wyoming, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said on Wednesday.
The collared male wolf is from the Snake River wolf pack, according to CPW, and its last recorded transmission signals were from Feb. 12 during a routine telemetry around South Pass in the Rocky Mountains.
CPW said it will continue to monitor the area, but is no longer actively pursuing the wolf’s location. Wildlife officers also worked to investigate a separate possible spotting of a gray wolf in Grand County this week.
The gray wolf and the Mexican wolf (listed separately as a subspecies) are classified as federally endangered in Colorado, CPW says on its website. Under the Endangered Species Act, harming, harassing, or killing a gray wolf (other than in cases of self defense) is unlawful.
Gray wolves were native to Colorado but were hunted to near extinction by the 1940s. The most recent previous confirmed wolf sightings in the state were also near Walden, in 2015.
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