DENVER, Colo. — A female gray wolf that was reintroduced to Colorado in December 2023 has died in Wyoming, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) announced on Wednesday morning.
CPW said it learned that gray wolf 2304 had died in Wyoming on July 24. It is the seventh death amid the state's reintroduced wolves this year. Scripps News Denver is tracking the known number of wolves in the state, and you can find those details below.
The agency is working with Wyoming Game and Fish so it can regain access to the wolf's tracking collar. Wyoming state law prevents other details from being shared, CPW said.
This is the third translocated wolf that has traveled north to Wyoming and died since the reintroduction efforts began. It is the first wolf that was brought to Colorado from Oregon to die in 2025.
The female wolf was not a part of an established pack in the state, a CPW spokesperson told Scripps News Denver.
Wolf 2304 was part of the first round of wolf reintroductions, which took place over two days in December 2023. Five gray wolves were released on Dec. 18 at an undisclosed place in Grand County and a few days later, five more were released in Grand and Summit counties.
All 10 were captured from packs in Oregon. In January 2025, 15 wolves from British Columbia were released in Pitkin and Eagle counties, in addition to the five members of the captured Copper Creek Pack released in Pitkin County.
Wolves travel long distances, sometimes up to 500 miles, as part of their "exploratory movements" to see if a habitat suits them, Brenna Cassidy, wolf monitoring and data coordinator with CPW, told Scripps News Denver in December 2024.
Scripps News Denver in-depth wolf coverage
The below list outlines an overview of the known wolf population in Colorado:
- Six wolves surviving from the original 10 that were released in December 2023 (one died of a likely mountain lion attack, a second died from injuries sustained prior to his capture as part of the Copper Creek Pack relocation effort, a third wolf became sickly and died, and a fourth - this story - died in Wyoming)
- Four of the five wolf pups born in the spring of 2024 (one male was killed after multiple depredations in Pitkin County)
- 10 wolves surviving from the 15 that were released in January 2025 (one was shot and killed by Wildlife Services in Wyoming earlier this month, a second died of unknown causes in Wyoming, a third died in Rocky Mountain National Park, a fourth died in northwest Colorado and the fifth also died in northwest Colorado)
- Unknown number of pups born in four packs in 2025
- Two wolves that moved south from Wyoming several years ago
- One uncollared wolf that was last known to be in northwest Moffat County in mid-February. It is not clear if it is alive or still in the state.
- Possible, but unconfirmed, wolf in the Browns Park area as of February. It is not clear if it is alive or still in the state.
Rangers work to protect rattlesnakes and the public at Garden of the Gods Park
The park is home to rattlesnakes, and rangers work to protect them while also keeping the public safe.
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