Libbie Miller grew up with a love for the outdoors, especially wildlife, plants, and the night sky. From home in Boulder, Colorado, family vacations were usually to either Grand Teton, Yellowstone or Rocky Mountain National Park. No matter where they were, her family participated in naturalist-led hikes and campfire programs. Summers at home, Libbie went to outdoor programs investigating nature and wildlife. She dreamed of one day working with wolves, or maybe ocean mammals like orcas or humpback whales.
Not surprisingly, Libbie followed her interests into the natural sciences and eventually became a Game Warden with the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Then, in 2017, after 20 years as a Wildlife Officer she transferred into her current position as a Terrestrial Wildlife Biologist with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW). Her emphasis is in species conservation. Libbie works with a wide variety of species including sage grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, raptors, Sandhill cranes, boreal toads and most recently, wolves. After having posters of wolves hanging in her home for 35 years, in 2019, a wolf walked across the border from Wyoming to Colorado right into Libbie’s region. As Colorado’s wolf population grows, she now gets to realize a lifelong dream of helping to monitor and participate in wolf management in some ways.
A wolf migrating naturally into Colorado is exciting because about 100 years ago, they were systematically eradicated from much of the United States. It hasn’t been that long since wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming in 1995. Under protection of the Endangered Species Act in Yellowstone, they thrived and began to spread to neighboring states.
Photo credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife (Press Release on 5/27/2021)
The wolf that walked to northern Colorado was from the Snake River Pack in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. 1084M was a smallish black wolf, born in 2016 and collared with a VHF collar when he was less than a year old. He appeared in Jackson County, Colorado in the summer of 2019. The area in Colorado where this wolf settled is called North Park. It is a high valley surrounded by dramatic mountain ranges. Not many people live in North Park, but there are plenty of cattle and oil rigs.
In January 2021, one of Libbie’s colleagues was flying to locate some collared deer. Whenever anyone conducted aerial work in North Park, Libbie had them also search for 1084M’s whereabouts. That day in January 2021, they spotted a second wolf with 1084M. He was a larger gray-colored wolf, definitely not a coyote.
Photo credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife (Press Release on 2/2/2021)
CPW decided to place a GPS tracking collar on this wolf later in January. These collars allow CPW staff to download past locations of the animal at regularly scheduled intervals. The wolf was netted from a helicopter, tranquilized, and received an exam. He was a healthy four-year-old weighing 110 pounds. His new identification became M2101.
These two wolves traveling together in North Park were both males, but even though that isn’t a traditional pack, possibly they were working together to help take down prey. Gray wolves are carnivores that hunt elk, deer, pronghorn, bison and also smaller animals like rabbits and rodents. Wolves are often smaller than their prey, and to take down the larger animals, they hunt in packs. A pack usually consists of an alpha breeding pair, their offspring, possibly other adult relatives, and sometimes some adopted family. They are social and communicate with body language, howling, growling, whining and scent marking. Different individuals have their own personalities and roles within the pack.
In late April of 2021, Libbie was reviewing the regularly scheduled downloads from M2101’s collar that showed a significant shift in his movements. The data points showed a centralized location where he was spending much of his time, with other locations radiating out like spokes on a wheel. CPW staff also confirmed that he was still with 1084M by detecting the black wolf’s VHF signal in the same location. This looked like denning behavior. Maybe there was a third unknown female as part of this group?
While flying over the spot indicated by M2101’s data points, CPW staff saw a big hole in the ground. Following the discovery, Libbie and other colleagues would go into the field 3-4 times a week to monitor the site. They watched from a distance through a spotting scope to minimize disturbance. Sometimes both adults were outside of the den, sometimes just one. However, no one ever saw a third adult that could be the denning female.
Libbie Miller monitoring the North Park wolves.
Around this time, CPW reached back out to Wyoming Game and Fish to determine if they had a DNA sample for 1084M, the black wolf. It turns out that Grand Teton National Park did have a sample and had already completed a DNA analysis. According to this analysis, 1084M was misidentified and was in fact a female. CPW then renamed the smaller black wolf F1084.
About this discovery, Libbie said, “We now knew we definitely had a male (M2101) and a female (F1084), we had a big hole in the ground, and the two wolves were deliberately hanging close to that location. In many ways this confirmed our suspicions, but we still wanted to confirm actual reproduction.”
“One evening in early June, I was out monitoring the location. It was dusk and the light was fading fast. I was just about to give up when the gray male appeared. As I was focusing in on him, I saw all of these little flurries around him. Puppies.” In July 2021, a total of 6 wolf pups were confirmed. To CPW’s knowledge, these are the first wolves born in Colorado in 80 years.
On one visit, Libbie was watching the pups play when the parents both appeared. “Mom went one way, and dad headed up another way. You could see three of the pups follow him. Dad came back and his behavior looked like he was being stern with them. One pup went back towards the den but the other two didn’t. Dad disappeared and the two pups sat there looking around. Finally, it was as if they looked at each other and asked, ‘Should we?’ And then, the pair of pups took off in the direction dad had gone.”
“A short time later, I heard a very low ‘woof woof woof.’ At first, I wondered if it was some sort of guard dog, like a Pyrenees. I wondered aloud, ‘Are there sheep up there?’ Up until that point, I’d never heard a wolf bark before, just howling. Then I heard this awful whimpering and yapping. I thought, ‘Oh no, I hope the pups didn’t get themselves into trouble!’ I was afraid that one of them was hurt. All I could do was sit and wait. About 5 minutes later, here they came, all in a line. Mom was in the front, the two puppies walked behind her, and dad was pulling up the rear. The parents marched those little pups straight back to the den. The pups were walking with their heads down and their tails tucked under them. Usually in interactions between the adults and the pups, their tails are up and they have this happy bouncy energy, but this time you got the feeling that they knew that they were in big trouble. I could just imagine hearing, ‘You could’ve gotten yourselves killed!’ ”
As these six pups, all black, grew over the summer, they wrestled, played with toys like sticks or bones, and learned how to hunt from their parents. Now that these native Colorado wolves are full grown and working together as a pack, there is a lot we can learn about how a wolf population may impact the Colorado landscape.
Wolves are a keystone species. A keystone is a wedge-shaped stone at the top of an arch that locks the other stones in place. Without it, the arch will fall apart. A keystone species helps keep relationships between plants and animals stable, and ecosystems in balance.
When wolves were eradicated from Yellowstone, mountain lion and grizzly bear populations were also reduced. With no predators, the elk multiplied to the point that there was not enough for them to eat. They browsed the young willows, cottonwoods and aspen. Trees weren’t able to reach full height. As a result, bird habitat was destroyed. The rivers and streams became wider, shallower and lost their shade. Stream banks eroded, destroying fish and amphibian habitat. Beavers didn’t have the trees and shrubs they needed to survive. At one point there was only one beaver colony left in Yellowstone. Park rangers had to kill or relocate the elk to try to keep their numbers down.
After the wolves were reintroduced in 1995, mountain lions and bears came back on their own. Bears scavenge off wolf kills, so the wolves were providing them additional food sources again. It was noticed that the elk started moving around more. Because they were wary of predators, they spent time hidden in dense trees instead of at the stream banks. This let the vegetation regrow and shade the rivers. Root systems kept the banks from eroding which repaired the fish and amphibian habitat. Wildflowers grew back bringing more insects which fed more birds. Trees were given time to reach full height without the elk constantly browsing them. Beavers returned and got to work creating healthy wetlands. Coyotes had been a top predator while the wolves were gone, but after wolves returned they reduced the coyote population. This meant more prairie dogs and rodents to feed the raptors and foxes. Scavengers like eagles, ravens, magpies, bears and wolverines also thrived on the leftovers from wolf kills.
Scientists will continue to study the changes of Yellowstone’s ecosystem since the return of wolves for many years. What they have seen there could be mirrored in Colorado’s wilderness, leading to improved health of rivers, soil and vegetation. A healthy ecosystem can better combat the effects of drought and climate change likely to be felt across the west.
While Colorado now has a pack that arrived on their own, the real adjustment will be when wolves are officially reintroduced to Colorado. This decision, and the status and management of gray wolves in the United States has been an evolving process. On October 29, 2020, the Department of the Interior announced that the gray wolf would be removed from federal protection. Following that announcement, management of wolves transferred to CPW here in Colorado.
Just a few days later, On November 3, 2020, Colorado voters passed Proposition 114 that calls for the reintroduction of wolves west of the Continental Divide by the end of 2023. CPW began planning for the wolf reintroduction effort. A little over a year later, on February 10, 2022, a federal judge restored endangered species protections for gray wolves in the U.S. except for parts of the northern Rocky Mountains.
This changes things for Colorado wolves and the reintroduction plan. CPW has lost its jurisdiction over wolves already living in Colorado. The wolf reintroduction plan will move forward with CPW’s involvement, but now with the permitting requirements and processes established by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Those most concerned about wolves on the landscape are livestock owners. The North Park ranchers have personal experience with wolf depredations now. Beginning in December 2021, the new pack began occasionally preying on livestock and attacking guard dogs. As wolf deterrents are tried in the area, it is hoped that ranchers can prevent many future depredations using a combination of methods.
Some of the techniques to deter wolves are: livestock guard dogs, fladry (fluttering flags) or electrified fladry (flags on an electrified wire), lights, noisemakers, range riders or night watchers, ranchers keeping livestock away from wolves’ den areas, electrified birthing corrals for livestock, synchronizing livestock birthing seasons with wolves’ natural prey birthing seasons, and even introducing wild burros into livestock herds. Fladry, lights, and noisemakers are not permanent deterrents. They need to be rotated or only used during high risk times like birthing season or the wolves get used to them.
Photos provided by Don Gittleson from a game camera on his ranch in North Park.
Studies are beginning to clarify why these deterrents are better than killing wolves that prey on livestock. Because wolves are social and live in packs, the elders teach young wolves how to hunt and which animals make good targets. Wolves prefer to hunt elk. However, when they do take a livestock animal and pack members are killed in retaliation, the wolf family is thrown into turmoil. If the alpha parents are killed, younger wolves may not have the ability or numbers to take down their usual prey and may kill livestock instead. When some of the pack is killed, the remaining wolves may become unpredictable or the pack may dissolve. Having a lone wolf around livestock is more dangerous than having an intact pack with experienced elders who teach the young to hunt elk.
Also, as seen from wolves being shot just outside the boundaries of Yellowstone during a managed hunt in 2021-2022, when much of an established pack is killed, more females than just the alpha may become pregnant. The pack quickly tries to build its numbers back up with many new pups. It will take time for the new pups to learn to hunt, and meanwhile, the adults are working very hard to feed them. Easy access to prey to feed the new large family will be important. It would be unfortunate if this was happening near vulnerable livestock.
Libbie understands the concern and financial loss that can come from wolves living in ranching areas. Some of her colleagues work closely with the livestock owners in North Park who are experiencing wolves on the landscape again. In January 2022, Libbie wrote, “Unfortunately, we have recently experienced a number of depredation incidents involving the loss of livestock and of working dogs. I sincerely care about the impacts wolves have already caused these livestock producers. It has been a terrible and incredibly challenging situation for them to have to deal with. CPW fully understands that future depredation incidents are inevitable and we intend to continue to work alongside these operators to develop both short-term and long-term solutions with the ultimate goal that somehow, someway, someday… livestock operators and wolves can eventually successfully coexist as part of Colorado’s landscape.”
Photo credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife (Press Release on 2/10/2021) Image: Wolf 2202, CPW/Eric Odell
On February 9, 2022, CPW placed a GPS collar on one of the female pups of F1084 and M2101. In their press release the next day, it states that F1084's collar had stopped transmitting, so the decision was made to collar another member of the pack. CPW also clarified how they will be identifying wolves in the future:
“The collared pup will be identified as 2202. The first two numbers (22) indicate the year the animal was captured. The second set of numbers inform biologists of the wolf’s gender (males will have odd numbers, females will have even) and the order in which it was collared.” Under this new naming system, the male alpha of the pack is now just referred to as 2101, instead of M2101.
Unfortunately on June 17, the news was released that neither the collar on 2101 or his daughter 2202 are working. This means no collars on the North Park wolves are currently transmitting.
Now that it is June, under good circumstances new wolf pups would be out of the den. Instead, there hasn’t been a confirmed sighting of F1084 in months. With no active collars on this group, the only way to monitor them is through visual sightings. This can be tricky because of the landscape, wolves moving around, and the distances involved. Because F1084 and all of her yearlings are black, it’s challenging to quickly determine which one of the group may be missing.
The North Park wolf pack will continue to evolve or disband. The issues they bring up are examples of situations that we can expect in other areas of Colorado after the reintroduction. Wolves can migrate naturally or be brought here intentionally, but either way they will interact with the landscape, prey animals, and livestock. Colorado ranchers need support in implementing approved wolf deterrents and receiving appropriate compensation following depredations. Future wolves in our state need protection and understanding that they are wild and will not stay or react exactly where and how we want them to behave. Hopefully through this transition we can appreciate the benefits of returning a keystone species to the land. New generations of Coloradans can appreciate an ecosystem balance that includes wolves, and have the opportunity to study and appreciate them as Libbie Miller has.
Libbie Miller listening for a signal from F1084’s VHF collar
References and Further Reading:
25 Years of Wolves in Yellowstone, National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park
Behavior Changes, Genetic Data Drive Discovery that Jackson County Wolf M1084 is Female, Colorado Parks and Wildlife News Release, 5/27/2021
Blakeslee, Nate, American Wolf, Crown Publishing, 2017
Blumhardt, Miles, Concern Grows Over Fate of Alpha Female of Colorado's Lone Known Wolfpack, Coloradoan, 6/2/2022
Brasch, Sam, Gray Wolves are Back on the Federal Endangered Species List. Here’s What That Means for Colorado, Colorado Public Radio News, 2/11/2022
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Locates, Collars Gray Wolf Pup in North Park, Colorado Parks and Wildlife News Release, 2/10/2022
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Observe Pups with Wolves M2101 “John” and F1084 “Jane”, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, 6/9/2021
CPW Confirms Wolf Depredation Incident in Jackson County, Colorado Parks and Wildlife News Release, 12/21/2021
CPW Donates Burros to Help North Park Rancher Prevent Further Wolf Depredations, Colorado Parks and Wildlife News Release, 3/17/2022
CPW Locates, Collars Gray Wolf Spotted In North-Central Colorado, Colorado Parks and Wildlife News Release, 2/2/2021
Duncan, Travis, Wolf Update: Tracking Collars, Colorado Outdoors, 6/17/2022
Farquhar, Brodie, Wolf Reintroduction Changes Ecosystem in Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park Trips, 6/30/2021
Fox, Alex, Gray Wolf Pups Seen in Colorado for the First Time in 80 Years, Smithsonian Magazine, 6/17/2021
Government Data Confirm that Wolves have a Negligible Effect on U.S. Cattle and Sheep Industries, The Humane Society of the United States
Gray Wolf, National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park
Kesselheim, Al, The Howling Wilderness: Doug Smith Tells the Truth about Wolves, but will Anyone Listen?, The Sun Magazine, 1/2021
Koshmrl, Mike, 1084M was a Thorofare Wolf, Jackson Hole News and Guide, 7/12/2019
Koshmrl, Mike, Yellowstone: Wolf Hunt Altered Behavior, Damaged Research, WyoFile, April 26, 2022
Lay, Jennie, Return of the Wolf, Steamboat Magazine, 7/31/2020
McIntyre, Rick, The Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone Book Series: The Rise of Wolf 8: Witnessing the Triumph of Yellowstone's Underdog, 2019, The Reign of Wolf 21: The Saga of Yellowstone’s Legendary Druid Pack, 2020, The Redemption of Wolf 302: From Renegade to Yellowstone Alpha Male, 2021, Greystone Books
Miller, Libbie, personal interview conducted with Jill Bergman, 11/23/2021
Peterson, Christine, 25 Years After Returning to Yellowstone, Wolves have Helped Stabilize the Ecosystem, National Geographic, 7/10/2020
Sherry, Jennifer, Wolves and Livestock: Tools Like Turbo Fladry Prevent Losses, National Resources Defense Council, 10/28/2020
The Wolf Management Working Group, Findings and Recommendations for Managing Wolves that Migrate into Colorado, 12/28/2004
Wolves, Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Wolves and Our Ecosystems, Living with Wolves
Wolves in Colorado FAQ, Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Wolf Resource Guide: Hands-on Resource Guide to Reduce Depredations, Colorado Parks and Wildlife pdf brochure
Wolf Restoration, National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park