A male wolf that was released in Colorado earlier this year died in Wyoming.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife says the male gray wolf, 2513, was one of the wolves brought to Colorado from British Columbia for the wolf reintroduction program. The state wildlife agency “became aware of the mortality” of the animal on April 9, according to an April 11 statement.
The agency did not say how the wolf died, noting that “Wyoming state law prevents further detail from being shared.” Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it coordinated the return of 2513’s tracking collar with Wyoming Game and Fish.
“Wolves are known to travel long distances to find food or mates, including into other states,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife said in an emailed statement. “CPW does not comment on wildlife movements, operations or regulations in other states. CPW has no further comment on the mortality of wolf 2513 as it took place outside of Colorado.”
2513 is the second of Colorado’s reintroduced wolves confirmed to have died in Wyoming this year. Federal officials in Wyoming killed another male wolf from British Columbia, 2505, after it depredated on sheep, according to previous Coloradoan reporting. Colorado Parks and Wildlife received that wolf’s mortality alert on March 16 and said the death happened in north-central Wyoming.
The state wildlife agency has an agreement with Utah, New Mexico and Arizona where gray wolves could be recaptured and returned to Colorado but does not have a similar agreement with Wyoming
It is legal to kill wolves in Wyoming, where wolves receive no federal or state protection.
At least three of the six siblings born to the North Park pack were legally killed in southern Wyoming in the fall of 2022.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Wolf reintroduced in Colorado this year dies in Wyoming
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