Colorado has found its gray wolves.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Friday announced a one-year agreement with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to source up to 10 wolves for the state’s voter-mandated reintroduction effort.

The wolves will be captured and relocated to Colorado between December 2023 and March 2024, CPW said.

In May, the CPW Commission approved a plan that cleared the way to reintroduce wolves in Colorado’s Western Slope. The state has until Dec. 31 to meet its voter-approved deadline for gray wolf reintroduction.

“Colorado Parks and Wildlife and our administration have worked tirelessly to safely reintroduce wolves consistent with that voter-mandated deadline,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a news release. “To that end we have met with many stakeholders, held public meetings, and collected feedback from more than 3,400 Coloradans. The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission voted unanimously in support of the wolf reintroduction plan. We are deeply grateful for Oregon’s partnership in this endeavor, and we are now one step closer to fulfilling the will of the voters in time.”

Capturing the wolves will be up to CPW, but Oregon wildlife officials will share wolf locations and best practice for capturing them.

“We are grateful to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for working with our agency on this critical next step in reintroducing gray wolves in the state,” CPW Director Jeff Davis said in a news release. “This agreement will help ensure Colorado Parks and Wildlife can meet its statutory mandate to begin releasing wolves in Colorado by December 31, 2023.”

Colorado will pay for all costs associated with capturing the wolves in Oregon, CPW said. They plan to use helicopter crews and spotter planes during the operation.

Once the wolves are captured, CPW said it will test and treat the animals for any diseases on site. Then they’ll place tracking collars on them, and take measurements of the animals.

They plan to transport the wolves in sturdy aluminum crates back to Colorado, either by truck or airplane.

“The wolves will be released at select sites in Colorado as soon as possible once they arrive in the state to minimize stress on the animals,” CPW Wolf Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell said in a news release. “CPW will aim to capture and reintroduce an equal number of males and females. We anticipate that the majority of animals will be in the 1- to 5-year-old range, which is the age that animals would typically disperse from the pack they were born in.”

Wolves will have to reach a certain standard to be selected for reintroduction. CPW said it won’t take wolves that have several broken canines, missing eyes, fractured or missing limbs, mange or lice infestation.

“Oregon has a long history of helping other states meet their conservation goals by providing animals for translocation efforts. Some of our wildlife populations were also restored thanks to other states doing the same for us, including Rocky Mountain elk, bighorn sheep and Rocky Mountain goat,” Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Curt Melcher said. “The wolves will come from northeast Oregon, where wolves are most abundant in the state and where removal of 10 wolves will not impact any conservation goals.”

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