Colorado Wolf sightings and a shooting death in 2015 of a confirmed Gray Wolf north of the town of Kermling has Colorado wildlife Officials reminding residents that Wolves are currently protected under Federal law and that they cannot be killed............Ironic that in January of this year, Gov. Hickenlooper and his wildlife commission voted to outlaw introduction of Mexican Wolves into Colorado..........."In the territory that eventually became the state of Colorado, in 1876, estimates of about 5,000 wolves eliminated are often cited"............... "Colorado has been mostly without wolves for more than 70 years, with the last one on record killed in 1945"..............It is likely that both Gray and Mexican Wolves intersected in parts of Colorado even though Hickenlooper is currently "going to the legal wall" saying that Mexican Wolves historically never ranged into today's Colorado......Really??????????????......

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://kdvr.com/2016/07/18/you-may-start-seeing-gray-wolves-in-colorado/&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoUMTYyMzgwNjk2MTE3Njg1OTAzMTEyGmRhOTdjZjk0NzgwNDY5OWE6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNFGbHCMyhLj45blrj2rlNCtN4LNOw

Gray wolf population increasing in Colorado

POSTED 4:57 PM, JULY 18, 2016, BY ANICA PADILLA, 

DENVER – It’s becoming more likely that you might see gray wolves in Colorado and officials are reminding people that it is a crime to kill them.

The wolf population is growing in nearby states and they are known to travel long distances, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials.

There has been an increase in reports of wolves in Colorado recently and several confirmed sightings over the past several years, officials said.

CPW issued a statement Monday reminding people that gray wolves are still protectedby the federal Endangered Species Act.

Killing a wolf or any endangered species can result in serious penalties, including criminal charges, a year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000, officials warned.

“Whether you are a trapper, or an elk hunter, deer hunter, coyote hunter or a landowner protecting livestock from predators, you must be sure of your target before you take any animal,” CPW Director Bob Broscheid said. “Identifying the target and the species you are hunting is critical and a major tenet of safe and ethical hunting.”

A hunter mistakenly killed what he thought was a coyote a few miles north of Kremling in April 2015.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service chose to not charge the hunter after their investigation determined he was hunting legally, did not intentionally kill the wolf and immediately reported the incident to Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials,” officials said.

The public is urged to report any sighting of wolves in Colorado by filling out the onlineWolf Sighting Form.

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Wolf reintroduction in Colorado faces new obstacle

By Kevin Fixler

Summit Daily

POSTED:   01/19/2016 06:00:03 PM MST | UPDATED:   6 MONTHS AGO

In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Fish
 and 
Wildlife Service, a Mexican gray wolf leaves cover 
at 
the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro
 County,
 N.M. Suspicion over federal plans to restore
 Mexican
 gray wolves has spread to Colorado and Utah,
 where 
ranchers and elected officials are fiercely resisting
 any 
attempt to import the predators. (Jim Clark / U.S.
 Fish 
and Wildlife Service)