JACKSON COUNTY, Colo. — Colorado Parks and Wildlife is working to confirm two possible gray wolf sightings in Jackson and Grand counties in northern Colorado.
The Coloradoan reports that someone sent the agency a photo that might show a radio-collared wolf near Walden in Jackson County.
Biologists are trying to confirm another recent sighting just to the south in Grand County.
On Tuesday, Gov. Jared Polis tweeted video of the possible wolf sighting.
Wolves haven’t roamed Colorado since the mid-1940’s. This past weekend, a private citizen captured a wolf on video in Jackson County in northern Colorado. @COParksWildlife officials are working to verify the sighting as well as another in Grand County. pic.twitter.com/H9Z4Jg2Z7w
— Jared Polis (@GovofCO) July 9, 2019
Gray wolves were native to Colorado but were hunted to near extinction by the 1940s.
Spokeswoman Rebecca Ferrell says the Jackson County animal might have wandered from nearby Wyoming, one of several states where the wolf has been reintroduced.
You may have seen our wolf sighting tweet earlier this evening.
We accidentally shared the wrong wolf sighting photo. Here are the correct ones from over the weekend. (note the tracking collar)
As we continue to get more information we will share it. pic.twitter.com/lm0HXWwK3V
— Colorado Parks and Wildlife (@COParksWildlife) July 9, 2019
The last confirmed Colorado wolf sightings were near Walden in 2015.
In all, there are about 6,000 gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, Pacific Northwest and Western Great Lakes.