The good news is a wolf was found in Eagle County, CO. The bad news: she was dead.
Hard to imagine a more potent symbol of wilderness than a wolves. Wolves are often put in the category as charismatic megafauna. Translation: they are big critters that inspire us. Once occupying virtually every State in the Union, they were seen as mortal enemy to Western ranchers. As the frontier was settled wolves were killed in large numbers. Their populations were decimated. In Colorado, wolves were thought to have been killed off by 1940, according to the CO Division of Wildlife.
That is why its so amazing to pick up a copy of the Denver Post, as I did on April 17. “Wandering Wolf Found Dead in Colo,” the headline read. State and Federal wildlife officials reported the wolf was found dead in late March, in Eagle County, about 120 miles west of Denver. This female gray wolf, known rather unaffectionately as 341F, belonged to one the reintroduced packs that now inhabit Yellowstone.
For some reason she strayed from his Yellowstone territory, some 600 miles away. She was wearing a radio collar so scientists were able to follow her progress. Scientists estimated she traveled some 2,000 miles, wandering through Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, and finally Colorado, where she met her untimely end. The cause of death was not disclosed. Perhaps her fate was sealed by a Ranchers bullet. The Division of Wildlife isn’t saying.
Plans to reintroduce wolves to Colorado have met fierce resistence by Ranchers and other rural dwellers. But the heroic wanderings of 341F provides hope to wilderness advocates. If wildlife managers are unable to take action to restore wolves, they just might find their own way back into the Rocky Mountain State.
the paralysis of wildlife officials.
