Collared wolf travels through Las Animas County, first east of I-25 in Colorado

A collared gray wolf briefly crossed east of Interstate 25 through watersheds in Pueblo, Otero and Las Animas counties before moving back west, marking the first confirmed east-of-I-25 crossing by a collared wolf in Colorado. Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s monthly collared wolf activity map for May 26 through June 23 shows recent watershed use, not the animal’s exact current location or the full extent of its travel.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is communicating with producers who already have known wolf activity near their operations and is coordinating access to conflict-minimization resources. Colorado Parks and Wildlife is asking the public to report suspected wolf sightings, especially with clear photos or video, because those reports help track gray wolf movement.

Young gray wolves can travel hundreds or even thousands of miles after leaving their natal pack in search of new territory and a mate.

Colorado’s voter-approved reintroduction program began after Proposition 114 passed on November 3, 2020, and required the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to develop a wolf introduction and management plan west of the Continental Divide by December 31, 2023. The first five gray wolves from Oregon were released in Grand County on December 18, 2023, and 10 wolves were reintroduced that month as part of the program’s initial phase.

The state’s depredation policy lays out the response if livestock conflicts grow. Wolf-livestock cases are handled one by one with education, nonlethal conflict-minimization tools, damage payments and, if necessary, lethal take. In northwest Colorado, the agency killed an uncollared wolf after repeated livestock predation in 2025 and 2026.