Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirms new gray wolf pack in Eagle County
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) confirmed July 22, 2026, the formation of the Piney Ridge Pack in Eagle County, bringing to four the number of wolf packs with confirmed successful reproduction in Colorado this year.
The four reproducing packs are Piney Ridge, One Ear, Three Creeks, and Copper Creek. Average litter size for wolves is 4-6 pups. Full pack information will be included in CPW's 2026-2027 annual report, to be released in spring 2027.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
"Detection of pups in late spring or early summer is inherently challenging, because of their use of remote habitats in dense cover, secretive nature of very young animals, and time potentially underground," said CPW Wolf Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell. "We are continuing to monitor the four reproducing packs in Colorado and will include minimum counts of the entire wolf population in our annual biological year report next spring."
CPW data shows wolves in established packs have higher survival rates than dispersing wolves. In the last biological year (April 1, 2025 - March 30, 2026), CPW recorded 10 wolf mortalities — seven were dispersers and three were pack members.
USFWS - public domain
"We are still working from a modest amount of data in Colorado — due to the relatively new nature of our wolf population as well as its small size, — but so far we are seeing a clear pattern of wolves in packs surviving longer than wolves that are not in packs," said Dr. Brenna Cassidy, CPW Wolf Monitoring and Data Coordinator. "This shows us the benefit of having more packs on the Colorado landscape for both adult survival and reproduction as we work to achieve the goals of the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan."
Pack territories also help CPW field staff prioritize deployment of conflict minimization tools such as fladry, scare devices, range riding, and hazing to address potential wolf-livestock conflict. CPW is in active communication with producers who have known wolf activity near their operations.
Members of the public who believe they have seen a wolf are encouraged to submit a wolf sighting form on CPW's website. High-quality photos or video are especially helpful as the population of uncollared wolves grows through reproduction and natural immigration.
Gray wolves are a state and federal endangered species. Colorado's wolf packs may reside on privately owned lands; entering private land without permission is trespassing and is subject to punishment by the local jurisdiction.
