Gray wolves are the largest of 41 species of the canid family, which includes dogs, foxes, and coyotes. Photo © USFWS
Exterminated By Intolerance
Gray wolves once roamed the wildlands of the Southern Rockies, but shooting, poisoning, and trapping led to extirpation of wolves in most of the United States by the mid-1930s. A principal threat to wolves is conflict with people over livestock losses. Another serious threat is human encroachment into wolf territory, which leads to habitat loss for wolves and their prey species. As a consequence, wolves in the United States occur primarily in wilderness and remote areas. Overall, the greatest threat to wolves is people’s fear and misunderstanding about the species. Though the occasional wolf sighting is reported in our area, gray wolves are believed to be extinct in the Southern Rockies.
Natural History
Gray wolf fur color varies, ranging from pure white to mixtures of white, gray, brown, cinammon, and black. The average male gray wolf can weigh approximately 50-100 lbs and stand about 2.5 feet tall at the shoulder. In each pack, the dominant male and female are usually the only ones to breed. Thus, a pack generally produces only one litter each year, averaging five to six pups. Today, the North American range of the gray wolf has been reduced to Canada, Alaska, and the northern reaches of the lower 48 United States. Thanks to the reintroduction of wolves in 1995, Yellowstone National Park is now one of the most favored places to see and hear wolves in their native habitat.
Conservation Status
-Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act in Wyoming
-Management of the predator will be turned over to state agencies in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin
-Extirpated (locally extinct) in the Southern Rockies
-Colorado Division of Wildlife Endangered Species
-Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy Science Forum Species of Most Concern
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