The Financial Cost of Reintroducing Wolves to Colorado Will Shock You

Introducing wolves back to Colorado has been a hot-button issue. Some residents think it is great due to balancing out the ecosystem and others have grave concerns regarding their livestock and costs.

Get our free mobile app

Whether you agree or disagree with the wolf reintroduction we can all agree that this process has cost a lot of money and will continue to do so for years.

Cost of Wolf Reintroduction

The state of Colorado started the reintroduction by investing $500,000 in 2022 to lay down the building blocks for wolves to return to the Centennial State. Last year, Colorado spent $800,000 to launch the plan and will continue to invest that amount until wolves are fully reintroduced.

Colorado Releases the First Gray Wolves in the State

Related: Colorado Releases the First Gray Wolves in the State

The first wolves were introduced to Colorado in December 2023 with the hope to release 50 more within the next few years.

Cost of GPS on Wolves

The cost of having GPS trackers on wolves is not cheap. 9News gave us insight into what the cost looks like.

Colorado purchases the GPS trackers, which are placed on the wolves, by Vectronic Aerospace Inc. Each tracker cost $1,575. Colorado just spent $32,188.62 on 15 trackers.

If we want to reintroduce 50 wolves to Colorado we will be spending $78,750 on trackers alone.

Cost Within Five Years

Let's take a look at the cost without factoring in medical needs, transportation, or other factors of reintroducing wolves to Colorado.

In the next five years, if the planning goes accordingly, Colorado will invest roughly $4.6 million. That includes the $800,000 annually for the next five years, the original $500,000, and the cost of GPS for the wolves.