Colorado wolf slips GPS collar just days after being captured, fitted

Miles Blumhardt, Fort Collins Coloradoan
·2 min read
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One of two wolves captured and collared in Jackson County on Thursday slipped his tracking collar just days after being captured.

It is believed the North Park's pack breeding male, collar No. 2101, slipped his GPS collar Sunday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife told the Coloradoan Tuesday morning.

Wildlife officials aren't sure how the collar slipped off. The collars are fitted around the wolf's neck in a way that ensures they do not restrict breathing but are intended to be tight enough so as not to slip over the head, the agency told the Coloradoan.

Reid Dewalt, the agency's assistant director of aquatic, terrestrial and natural resources updated those at Tuesday's Colorado Wildlife Commission meeting in Rifle on the state's draft wolf plan about the loss of the collar.

Dewalt said wildlife officials were alerted Sunday when the collar gave a mortality signal, meaning the collar indicated it was stationary for some time.

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He said a local wildlife officer found the collar Tuesday and biologists saw wolf No. 2101 while flying in North Park on Tuesday.

The agency said recapturing and collaring another wolf in North Park is being considered.

Considerations include the availability of a helicopter from which biologists dart the wolves with a tranquilizer. The agency said animal welfare also will be considered. Previously, the wildlife agency said it prefers to capture and collar wolves before the breeding season, which generally begins in mid-February.

The collar of a second wolf, collar No. 2301, captured Thursday together with the breeding male remains in place. That black wolf is believed to be one of six pups produced by female wolf No. 1084 and male wolf No. 2101 in spring of 2021.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife placed GPS collars on two wolves in North Park on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife placed GPS collars on two wolves in North Park on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023.

The breeding male, estimated to be 4 years old, was originally captured and collared by the wildlife agency in February 2021. The collar failed May 13, 2022, the wildlife agency previously said. Dewalt said Tuesday that collar battery pack was ripped off by an unknown cause, resulting in the collar to fail.

A collar placed on one of the pack's pups in early February 2022 failed shortly thereafter.

The pack's breeding female was originally fitted with a VHF collar in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park in 2017. The collar failed last year, which is consistent with the life of collars.

Having three previous collars not working on the pack prompted wildlife officials to recently capture and collar the two wolves Thursday.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado wolf slips GPS collar just days after being fitted