A new reproducing wolf pack has formed in Colorado’s central mountains, adding to the four already established in the state.
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The Piney Ridge pack has claimed territory in Eagle County, Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced Wednesday as it also put out a monthly map tracking wolf movements.
Along with the Piney Ridge pack, CPW biologists confirmed that pups were born to three of the state’s already established packs: the One Ear pack in Jackson County, the Three Creeks pack in Rio Blanco County and the Copper Creek pack in Pitkin County.
CPW officials did not provide a total number of pups born this spring, noting that it is difficult to accurately count pups when they are young. The agency said it would provide more detailed numbers in its 2027 wolf report, to be published next spring. A wolf litter averages four to six pups.
“Detection of pups in late spring or early summer is inherently challenging, because of their use of remote habitats in dense cover, (the) secretive nature of very young animals, and time potentially underground,” CPW’s Wolf Conservation Program manager, Eric Odell, said in a news release.
Last year, at least 14 pups were born to four packs.
One of the already-established packs, the King Mountain pack, did not reproduce this year after the deaths of its mating pair. The male died after being captured by CPW staff, and a ranch hand shot and killed the female. The pair had produced four pups before their deaths.
The formation of wolf packs benefits wolves and wildlife managers alike, CPW officials said in the news release.
Wolves that have established territory become easier to monitor and keep away from livestock, according to the agency.
Wolves in packs also have better survival rates, according to the agency’s data. Seven of the 10 wolves that died during the last wolf biological year — April 2025 to March 2026 — were not pack members.
Colorado’s collared wolves remained in the state’s central and western mountains in July, a new map of their general locations shows.
The wolves roamed the land between Walden, Rifle, Gunnison and Vail, according to the map, with the wolves’ travels more geographically constrained than in the previous month.
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