On Monday, Aug. 19, Colorado Parks and Wildlife shared a video on social media of three wolf pups and one adult wolf from the Copper Creek pack. 

The video, taken by Mike Usalavage and reviewed and confirmed by the wildlife agency’s wolf biologists, shows three pups playing around a puddle on a dirt road. One adult wolf is also present. 

In the post, the agency shared that the three pups were “healthy” and weighed between 40 and 50 pounds. 

“Playing not only allows a wolf pup to practice hunting behaviors but also teaches them how to communicate effectively with other wolves, which is a skill they will use throughout their lives as social creatures living in packs,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife wrote on the social media platform. 

Following Colorado’s gray wolf reintroduction efforts in December, Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed the first successful wolf pup in Grand County in June. With at least one pup confirmed, the wolves were considered to be a pack and renamed the Copper Creek Pack. 

Prior to Monday’s video, while the agency had speculated the existence of a larger litter in the pack, it had only confirmed the existence of one. 

Since reintroducing 10 wolves in Grand and Summit counties, Parks and Wildlife has released monthly maps showing wolf activity based on the watersheds the wolves have traveled through. The July map showed that the wolves were spending most of their time in Routt, Grand, Summit and Jackson counties.  

The reintroduced wolves are tracked using collars that record their position once every four hours. In addition to using this data, the agency is encouraging community members to fill out Wolf Sighting forms on its website. 

“This information will help our biologists monitor wolves and their movements in Colorado,” Parks and Wildlife shared on X. 

Seen here: three healthy wolf pups (around 40-50 lbs) and one adult from the Copper Creek pack. We received this video and our wolf biologists have reviewed and confirmed the validity of the video.

Video courtesy of Mike Usalavage pic.twitter.com/vVnSdaIZ9m

— Colorado Parks and Wildlife (@COParksWildlife) August 19, 2024