About 15 wolverines may be released into the San Juan Mountains as soon as the end of 2027.
The release will be part of an effort to restore the carnivores to Colorado, from which they have been missing since the last one here was extirpated in 1919 as part of a broad governmental effort to kill all predators.
One lone, GPS-collared male did travel from Wyoming down to Colorado in 2009, but returned north after about three years.
Experts discussed the reintroduction project during a webinar on Jan. 28.
A representative of the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife, Kaitie Schneider, said Colorado’s high-elevation mountains represent the largest area where wolverines were historically present but are now absent.
Wildlife officials in Colorado began discussing bringing back wolverines in the 1990s, about the same time they were reintroducing the lynx. That effort proved lengthy and somewhat controversial, as the first lynx returned to the wild all died, and the wolverine effort was put on the back burner.
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Wolverines, the largest land-dwelling members of the weasel family, are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in the Lower 48 states.
Schneider told KSJD in an email that a formal reintroduction of wolverines has never been done before. California is exploring the idea, she said, but Colorado is much farther along in the planning process.
Kaitlyn Reed, a graduate student doing research is on the reintroduction at the CSU Center for Human-Carnivore Coexistence, said in the webinar that Colorado developed a draft wolverine management plan in 2010. It was paused until the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service decided in 2023 to list the species as federally threatened.
The Colorado legislature than passed a bipartisan bill with broad support that allowed for the reintroduction.
In the webinar, Schneider said wolverines aren’t likely to return here on their own because females do not tend to move far from where they were born.
“It’s unlikely enough will make it here on their own to ensure genetic diversity,” she said.
Their reintroduction is not expected to be nearly as controversial as the wolf reintroduction has been, for a number of reasons.
Wolverines are solitary animals that require large territories and will never be very populous. Colorado could support about 100, Schneider said.
Wolverines pose little to no threat to humans; there has never been a documented case of a wolverine attacking a person, Schneider said. They are elusive and avoid people as much as possible.
They are also unlikely to prey much on livestock, she said. There have been just two confirmed cases in the lower 48 states in history where they attacked sheep, but wolverines live at snowy, high-elevation areas where there is little grazing by livestock. They are scavengers more than predators, frequently feasting on carcasses.
“They can smell and dig up carcasses buried several feet below the snow,” Schneider said.
They do prey on small animals such as marmots, birds, fish, rabbits, and squirrels, she said.
However, a compensation fund to pay ranchers for any livestock losses will be set up.
The reintroduction plan calls for wolverines to be trapped, probably in Canada in the middle of winter, and brought to a wildlife rehabilitation center in Colorado to be checked, given a GPS collar and microchip, and given time to adjust. Females that are trapped may already be pregnant, Schneider said.
In addition to the 15 individuals released in the San Juans, 15 more will be released in each of two other zones: one between Aspen and Gunnison; and another around Rocky Mountain National Park. That will make for a total of 45 released into the state.
The releases won’t take place until late 2027 at the very earliest, she said.
“Colorado will be a global leader in wildlife restoration,” Schneider said. The release of wolverines with tracking collars will provide a rare opportunity for research into the secretive creatures, she said.
She said it makes sense to restore a native species and “ensure Colorado’s wild places remain strong and vibrant for future generations.”
“It will also be righting a historic wrong,” she said.
Note: The accompanying photo is by the National Park Service.
