A male wolf at the center of a dispute between Colorado state wildlife officials and local ranchers over how to manage the apex predator’s reintroduction to the Centennial State is dead of suspected natural causes.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials announced Monday that Wolf 2309, as the animal is officially known, died four days following its capture in late August, when it was found with “several injuries” to its right hind leg and significantly underweight.
CPW Director Jeff Davis revealed the animal’s death — the second wolf released into Colorado last December that has since died — in conjunction with a report on the state’s efforts to relocate the Copper Creek wolf pack. Wolf 2309 sired the pack’s four pups, the first to be produced as part of the state’s reintroduction effort.
“Based on his condition, we believe that it was unlikely that he would have survived very long in the wild,” Davis said. The wolf must still undergo a necropsy to determine cause of death but CPW Wolf Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell said the injuries appear to have been caused by a “carnivore-type animal attack.”
