Colorado Pauses Wolf Translocations After 11 Deaths, Federal Import Order

Colorado Parks and Wildlife paused planned wolf translocations after officials confirmed the 11th death of a translocated gray wolf and a federal order limiting imports from Canada. The move follows a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service directive from October that ordered Colorado to stop importing wolves from Canada, halting a planned relocation of 10 to 15 animals from British Columbia.

The pause came one day after the state confirmed another wolf fatality, bringing to 11 the number of wolves that have died since reintroduction began in December 2023. Colorado released 25 wolves between December 2023 and 2025; nearly half of those animals have now died. Colorado began releases west of the Continental Divide after voters approved reintroduction in 2020, and the long-term management plan envisions about 200 or more wolves on the landscape.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the impact of foregoing additional translocations depends on reproduction and survival among wolves already on the landscape. Four packs have successfully bred litters, and staff are still determining how many pups survived the summer. Female gray wolves typically give birth to litters of four to six pups.

“It is not possible to predict the impact of foregoing a third year of translocations without knowing what may occur in the coming year,” Eric Odell, CPW’s wolf program manager, said in a statement Wednesday. “If mortality remains high, as observed in 2025, the risk of failing to achieve a self-sustaining wolf population in Colorado increases, potentially requiring additional resources to address.”

The pause has immediate local implications for San Juan County residents. Ranchers and livestock producers who have dealt with confirmed wolf-livestock interactions will be watching mortality and reproduction reports closely, while wildlife managers will maintain and possibly intensify conflict-reduction measures such as nighttime patrols and herd-protection strategies already in use. The program has drawn criticism in rural Colorado where some wolves have attacked livestock despite mitigation efforts.

The import restriction from British Columbia also underscores the cross-border dimensions of wolf recovery. International movement of animals was central to Colorado’s plan to bolster genetic diversity and population growth; the federal directive limits that pathway and forces state managers to weigh alternative strategies for meeting population goals.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it continues to explore options for acquiring additional wolves in the 2026-27 winter season and will monitor pack productivity and survival this year. For San Juan County, the near-term outlook is one of close monitoring and ongoing coordination between CPW and local landowners as officials assess whether natural reproduction will offset losses and keep recovery on track.