Colorado wildlife sightings
Saw a wolf, a lynx, a wolverine or a sick bat? Here is where each report goes, how to make sure it’s really the animal you think, and how to keep a sensitive location out of the wrong hands.
By Threatened Colorado , Two Colorado natives , About us
Last reviewed , Checked against USFWS, CPW, NPS sources , Sources (32)
The animals Colorado’s agencies ask the public about, grouped by where the report goes. Every species card also links to a pre-filled iNaturalist observation for a photo record.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
CPW asks for sightings of wolves, lynx, wolverines and grizzly bears through its own online forms. Colorado law lets it keep your name, address and the animal’s location out of open-records requests. (CPW) (opens in a new tab)
CPW biologists use the Wolf Sighting Form to monitor wolves. A photo or video, and the exact location or other detailed information, help them confirm a report. (CPW) (opens in a new tab)
CPW says observations by the public can help inform wildlife management. Its lynx form starts with how to tell a lynx from a bobcat. (CPW) (opens in a new tab)
Before 2009, the last confirmed wolverine sighting in Colorado was in 1919; that spring researchers tracked one from Grand Teton National Park into north-central Colorado. CPW’s form explains how to tell them from marmots, which share their coloring and habitat. (CPW) (opens in a new tab)
CPW says grizzlies no longer live in Colorado; the last known one was killed in the San Juan Mountains in 1979. CPW still keeps a grizzly sighting form. (CPW) (opens in a new tab)
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
White-nose syndrome, a fungal disease of hibernating bats, was confirmed in Colorado in 2022; the first bat here to die of it, a Yuma myotis, was found at Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site in spring 2023. (CPW) (opens in a new tab)
From December through June, CPW asks for reports of any active or dead bat, because it may be sick with white-nose syndrome. Watch for bats that are grounded, dead or lethargic in winter and early spring (through July at high elevations), and bats with badly damaged wings. (CPW) (opens in a new tab)
Don’t handle the bat. Place a box or can over it so it isn’t disturbed. (CPW) (opens in a new tab)
Profile: Tricolored Bat · Threat: White-nose syndrome
iNaturalist
CPW lists no online sighting form for these animals. An iNaturalist observation with a photo, an accurate date and an accurate location can reach Research Grade once more than two-thirds of identifiers agree on the species. (CPW) (opens in a new tab) (iNaturalist) (opens in a new tab)
Chytrid fungus causes high mortality in boreal toads. CPW says their breeding sites start around 8,000 feet and peak between 9,400 and 10,400 feet. (CPW) (opens in a new tab)
Ferrets are hard to see: they are nocturnal, live underground and come above ground at irregular times, USFWS says. Look for black feet, a black face mask and a black-tipped tail on a yellow-buff body. (USFWS) (opens in a new tab)
CPW’s Otter Y.E.A.R. survey collects otter sightings through an iNaturalist project to map where otters live now. (CPW) (opens in a new tab)
CPW and USFWS
Report poaching to CPW’s Operation Game Thief at 1-877-COLO-OGT (1-877-265-6648) from within Colorado. Callers don’t have to give their names or testify in court, and CPW offers $500 for information on cases involving endangered species. (CPW) (opens in a new tab)
Operation Game Thief (opens in a new tab)USFWS investigates the killing of federally protected wildlife, including endangered species, and takes tips through an online form. (USFWS) (opens in a new tab)
USFWS wildlife crime tips (opens in a new tab)Five rare animals and the common ones they’re mistaken for, with the field marks Colorado’s agencies use to tell them apart.
Canada Lynx 
Bobcat Field marks: CPW (opens in a new tab)
Gray Wolf 
Coyote Human tracks beside a big “wolf” track are a telltale sign of a large dog. (NPS) (opens in a new tab)
Field marks: NPS (opens in a new tab)
Wolverine 
Yellow-bellied marmot Field marks: CPW (opens in a new tab)
Boreal Toad 
Woodhouse’s toad Field marks: CPW (opens in a new tab)
Swift Fox 
Red fox Swift foxes use dens year-round, and iNaturalist does not hide their locations in Colorado automatically: set your observation to Obscured. (CPW) (opens in a new tab) (iNaturalist) (opens in a new tab)
Field marks: CPW (opens in a new tab)
A report a biologist can confirm is worth far more than one they can’t. Four things to include, how to photograph a track, and how close is too close.
It is what lets a biologist confirm the sighting, and iNaturalist treats an observation as verifiable only with a photo or sound. (CPW) (opens in a new tab) (iNaturalist) (opens in a new tab)
The exact location, or directions detailed enough to find the spot. On a CPW form it stays out of open-records requests. (CPW) (opens in a new tab)
The date you saw it. iNaturalist needs an accurate date before an observation can reach Research Grade. (iNaturalist) (opens in a new tab)
CPW’s wolf form asks about the animal’s physical characteristics and its behavior, and its wolverine form suggests two questions in the field: what does it look like, and what is it doing? (CPW) (opens in a new tab)
Put an item of known size next to the print, and note that item’s measurements, so biologists can judge the size of the track. (CPW) (opens in a new tab)
Measure the length and width of a front and a hind print; in carnivores the front foot is usually the larger one. (NPS) (opens in a new tab)
Photograph the trail as well as single prints. The stride and the trail width help tell species apart. (NPS) (opens in a new tab)
Cat or dog? Cat tracks are round, with a palm pad at least half the size of the track, and claws that may not show. Dog-family tracks are longer than wide, with claws usually showing. Lynx feet are densely furred, so their tracks look blurrier than a bobcat’s. (NPS) (opens in a new tab)
Minimum distances from Rocky Mountain National Park, drawn to scale.
about two bus lengths (NPS) (opens in a new tab)
about three bus lengths (NPS) (opens in a new tab)
91 meters, on foot or in a vehicle (NPS) (opens in a new tab)
A pin on a public map can bring a stream of visitors to a nest, a den, a lek or a toad breeding pond. Report the exact spot to the people who protect it, and keep it out of public posts.
Gunnison sage-grouse are sensitive to human disturbance, and CPW warns that continued disturbance could make the birds abandon a lek. At its Waunita viewing site, watchers arrive at least an hour before sunrise, stay in their vehicles with the engine off, and keep quiet until the birds stop displaying. (CPW) (opens in a new tab)
Colorado law lets CPW withhold information that could be used to find a specific animal or group of animals from open-records requests (C.R.S. § 24-72-204(2)(a)(X)), along with reporters’ names, addresses and email addresses. (CPW) (opens in a new tab)
When to report privately to CPW
Use a CPW sighting form rather than a public post for a wolf, lynx, wolverine or grizzly. For a den, nest, lek or toad breeding pond, share the spot only through a CPW form or an iNaturalist observation set to Obscured or Private, and leave place names out of your notes.
Obscured moves an observation’s coordinates into private fields and shows a random point within a 0.2 × 0.2 degree cell instead. Private hides the location completely, so the observation won’t show up in place searches. (iNaturalist) (opens in a new tab)
iNaturalist also obscures some threatened species automatically, by place, based on their conservation status. People and projects you trust, and researchers working through iNaturalist, can still see the true location. (iNaturalist) (opens in a new tab)
It isn’t foolproof: landmarks in your photos, place names in your notes, and your own open observations nearby can give the spot away. (iNaturalist) (opens in a new tab)
| Species | Hidden automatically? |
|---|---|
| Gray Wolf | Yes Colorado (iNaturalist) (opens in a new tab) |
| Canada Lynx | Yes Colorado (iNaturalist) (opens in a new tab) |
| North American Wolverine | Yes Colorado (iNaturalist) (opens in a new tab) |
| Boreal Toad | Yes Colorado (all western toads) (iNaturalist) (opens in a new tab) |
| Black-footed Ferret | Yes everywhere (iNaturalist) (opens in a new tab) |
| Tricolored Bat | Yes United States (iNaturalist) (opens in a new tab) |
| Swift Fox | No set it yourself (iNaturalist) (opens in a new tab) |
| North American River Otter | No set it yourself (iNaturalist) (opens in a new tab) |
Profiles Gray WolfCanada LynxNorth American WolverineGrizzly BearTricolored BatBoreal ToadBlack-footed FerretNorth American River OtterSwift Fox
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