Wolverine are animals of high alpine environments in both North America and Eurasia. In North America, they occupy western mountains in Alaska and Canada; the southern portion of their current range extends into the contiguous United States, including Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. There is currently no known population in Colorado.
Is Colorado home to wolverines? Not usually, but some say things are changing. While there have been a few unverified sightings over the years, there has only been one documented wolverine found in Colorado in the last one hundred years. Explore the journey of wolverines in Colorado, from their historical native range to their current elusive status and future conservation efforts.
The last confirmed sighting of a native wolverine in Colorado was in 1919. In 2009, researchers tracked one from the Grand Teton National Park into Colorado before it migrated back north. Colorado's wolverine reintroduction bill signed into law.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is moving forward with plans to reintroduce the wolverine in the state in 2027. Representatives of the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife will hold two informational outreach events in Gunnison. With fewer than 300 remaining North American wolverines in existence, this.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife conducted surveys from 1979-1996 but found no evidence of wolverines in the state. See recent wolverine locations on the map (1861 to 1994) The last confirmed sighting of a wolverine in Colorado was in 2009 when M56, a collard wolverine from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem traveled over 500 miles to the Sothern. Colorado's high-elevation environments are ideal for wolverines, with roughly 20 percent of the remaining suitable habitat for wolverines in the Lower 48 existing in Colorado.
What is a wolverine? There are fewer than 400 wolverines in the contiguous US. They are vulnerable to climate change and protected as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Wolverines in Colorado Colorado's wolverine population went extinct due to unregulated trapping and poisoning in the early 1900s.
Colorado lawmakers last week overwhelmingly approved a bill to restore North American wolverines to the state's high country. Supporters say the wolverine is one of the last species still "missing" from Colorado after it was exterminated from the Rocky Mountains by humans in the early 1900s.