Wolves return to Colorado for 1st time in 80 years, officials say. The poop proves it

Wolves are back in Colorado for the first time since the 1940s, wildlife officials say.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists tested four samples of animal scat and verified it came from wolves, a CPW news release said.

“Biologists have received notification back from a genetics lab confirming that four scat samples collected near a scavenged elk carcass in Moffat County in early January came from wolves,” the news release said. “This is the first official documentation of a pack of wolves in the state since the 1940s.”

The DNA results can tell biologists multiple things about the wolves, including the sex of the wolves and if they are related. There are three female wolves and one male wolf in the pack, according to the DNA results, and it’s likely that they are siblings.

“The DNA doesn’t tell us the age,” CPW Species Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell said in the news release. “We don’t know where or when they were born. We can’t say. But that there are closely related wolves is a pretty significant finding.”

Previously, people reported seeing up to six wolves in Colorado, the news release said. It is possible there are more than the four wolves, and officials are waiting on results from additional scat samples that were collected Jan. 19.

“It is inevitable, based on known wolf behavior, that they would travel here from states where their populations are well-established,” CPW Northwest Regional Manager JT Romatzke said in a Jan. 8 news release. “We have no doubt that they are here, and the most recent sighting of what appears to be wolves traveling together in what can be best described as a pack is further evidence of the presence of wolves in Colorado.”

This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 4:48 PM with the headline "Wolves return to Colorado for 1st time in 80 years, officials say. The poop proves it."