Local
Colorado Wolf #2516 Dies in Utah; Federal and State Agencies Investigate
A female gray wolf reintroduced to Colorado from British Columbia has died in Utah, prompting a multi-agency investigation. The death is the latest in a string of losses that have intensified the debate over Colorado's wolf management program.
A female gray wolf that was part of Colorado's reintroduction effort has died in Utah, Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced Friday. The wolf, identified as #2516, was found dead after the agency received a mortality alert on Nov. 7. The cause of death has not been released.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is leading the investigation, working alongside Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Utah Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife Resources and Law Enforcement. Officials have not said where in Utah the wolf was located.
Wolf #2516 was one of 15 gray wolves captured in British Columbia and released in Colorado in January 2025. Those wolves joined 10 others brought from Oregon in December 2023 as part of a voter-approved initiative to restore the species to the state. According to CPW, the wolf had traveled roughly 9,000 miles on her own across Colorado and into neighboring states before her death.
Colorado has an agreement with Utah that any collared Colorado wolves crossing into the state will be returned. Most of Colorado's reintroduced wolves carry tracking devices.
The death is the latest in a series of losses for the program. Since reintroduction began, 20 wolves have died, including five that were shot by CPW this year after repeated livestock depredations on the Western Slope. In October, the agency announced it would temporarily suspend a provision of the state's wolf management plan that allows the killing of wolves responsible for chronic livestock losses. CPW said it would evaluate any future removals on a case-by-case basis using a "very conservative approach" due to concerns that population growth may not occur this biological year, which ends March 31, 2027.
The pause drew sharp criticism from agricultural groups and Western Slope elected officials. Carlyle Currier, president of the Colorado Farm Bureau and a fourth-generation rancher, said at the time that it was "nearly unfathomable that CPW intends to abdicate their obligations to our farming, ranching, and rural communities after so many strides in rebuilding trust on conflict mitigation, nonlethal tool employment, fair-compensation structures and broader reintroduction success."
The circumstances surrounding wolf #2516's death remain unclear. Parts of Utah, particularly in the north near the Wyoming and Idaho borders, are not protected under the Endangered Species Act. In January, Utah agricultural staff killed three wolves preying on livestock in that delisted area, though the agency did not say where those wolves originated.
The investigation into #2516's death is ongoing. CPW has not indicated when a cause of death might be determined.