Colorado Unveils First Plan to Reintroduce Wolverines, Targeting Up to 45 Over Three Years

Overview

• Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s 106-page plan details the first formal wolverine reintroduction effort, to be presented to the Parks and Wildlife Commission on Thursday.
• The proposal calls for moving about 15 animals per year for a total of up to 45, sourcing primarily from western Canada to establish a breeding population.
• Animals would be held at CPW’s Frisco Creek facility with limited human contact, then released to high-elevation sites using helicopters, trucks, snowmobiles or skis.
• Three release zones are identified north of I-70, between I-70 and U.S. 50, and in the San Juan Mountains, with the first year focused on the central zone.
• CPW plans to provision carcasses, including coordinated roadkill, to encourage site fidelity, while final timing depends on 10(j) approval, a communications plan and a compensation rule amid federal scrutiny of Colorado’s wolf program.