How Many Endangered Species Are in Colorado?
Short answer
Colorado's own list names 19 endangered and 12 threatened animals. Federally, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Colorado offices oversee more than 40 species that are threatened, endangered or under review, including 13 listed plants confirmed growing in Colorado.
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Colorado keeps two lists of endangered species, and they don’t match. One is federal, under the Endangered Species Act. The other belongs to the state and is kept by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. A species can be on one list, both or neither, so the answer depends on which list you mean. (What “endangered” and “threatened” mean.)
Colorado’s state list
Colorado Parks and Wildlife lists 19 species as state endangered and 12 as state threatened: 14 fish, 8 birds, 8 mammals and 1 amphibian. Fish are the largest group.
The state also keeps a separate watch list of 40 “special concern” species. Those aren’t legally listed, but CPW is keeping an eye on them.
The federal list
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Colorado field offices are responsible for more than 40 species that are federally listed as threatened or endangered or are under review for listing. That count includes plants: 13 federally listed plants are confirmed growing in Colorado (Threatened Plants). USFWS lists 16 with Colorado in their range, but the Colorado Natural Heritage Program has a confirmed Colorado record for only 13 of them.
Why the two lists don’t match
Federal and state agencies decide their lists separately, so the same animal can carry different labels:
- The boreal toad is state endangered but not federally listed.
- The Gunnison sage-grouse is federally threatened but only a state special-concern species.
- The Colorado pikeminnow is federally endangered but state threatened.
- The least tern is still state endangered, though it is no longer on the federal list.
What this site covers
Threatened Colorado profiles 60 species. Of those, 8 are federally endangered and 14 are federally threatened; the rest are state-listed, proposed for federal listing, or on watch lists. Browse them all on the species list, or by group: birds, mammals, fish, invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians. Colorado’s federally listed plants have their own section: Threatened Plants.
