The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is looking for information related to the illegal killing of a gray wolf in Grand County, Colorado.
On Monday Dec. 18, we released 5 wolves in Grand County & since then, we have released 5 more in Summit/Grand counties bringing our total released wolves in Colorado to 10 — 4 males and 6 females.
— Colorado Parks and Wildlife (@COParksWildlife) December 23, 2023
We will continue working to reintroduce 15 wolves total by mid-March 2024. pic.twitter.com/V2zZuHpUUT
The wolf was identified as 2309-OR, a male captured by Colorado Parks an Wildlife back on August 30, 2024, during the Copper Creek Pack capture operation. The wolf was already in bad condition when captured, and later died on September 3.
A necropsy showed that a gunshot wound led to the wolf’s poor condition and eventually caused its death. Under the federal Endangered Species Act, gray wolves in Colorado are listed as endangered and thus illegal to harass, harm, or kill without federal authorization.
Those with information related to the wolf’s death, or any other federal wildlife crimes, are asked to contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s wildlife crime hotline either through 1-844-FWS-TIPS (397-8477), FWS_TIPS@fws.gov, or https://www.fws.gov/wildlife-crime-tips. A monetary reward will be offered for information that furthers the investigation significantly.