A brief history of Colorado’s repatriation, reintroduction project:

On December 18, 2023, five wolves were released into the mountains of Colorado, and five more were released over the following three days. Because the people of Colorado voted directly to authorize this reintroduction, opponents began referring to it pejoratively as "ballot box biology." In reality, it's "ballot box morality.' I was invited to the initial release because of my longtime interest in rewilding nature and because of the social behavior of wolves, coyotes, and domestic dogs that I have researched. I also was interested in observing personality differences among the first group of wolves who were released.

After four years of planning before the wolves were released, Colorado's wolf reintroduction program was supposed to set a new benchmark for how to manage a wolf reintroduction successfully.1 Instead, it raises serious questions about human-animal relationships and the ability of wildlife agencies to remain impartial in the face of mounting pressure from special interest groups.

Like many people across Colorado and around the world, I’ve been eagerly waiting to learn more about Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s (CPW) operation to capture and relocate the six individuals comprising what has come to be called the Copper Creek pack—a tightly knit family group consisting of a mother, a father, and their four children.........

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