Colorado’s Newly-Introduced Wolves Now Have Names

One of the most controversial decisions made by Colorado voters in recent history was approving a ballot measure that would see wolves reintroduced into certain wilderness areas across the state.

While the measure did pass and some wolves have been reintroduced, not everyone is happy with the decision. However, students across Colorado were tasked to choose and vote on something completely different with regard to the state's new wolves; their names.

Colorado Students Name Five of the State's New Wolves

The project which saw schoolchildren choose the names of these five newly-introduced wolves was organized by the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center and the voting began back in November.

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Nearly 200,000 students from 67 schools between the grades of 5th and 8th participated in choosing the names and ultimately voting on the top five to be given to the wolves.

Two black female wolves were given the names Ghost and Shadow, two gray female wolves were given the names Maverick and Aspen, and the lone male wolf was given the name River.

While the names are cute and the schoolchildren likely enjoyed the task of choosing the wolves' names, Colorado Parks and Wildlife doesn't plan on using these names to monitor the five wolves.

In fact, the official names of the wolves typically consist of a four-digit number followed by two letters which indicate the year they were introduced, whether the wolves are male or female (females are assigned even numbers whereas males are given odd numbers,) and the letters indicate where the wolves came from.

While these five wolves are the only ones to have been named, five others have been released in Colorado so far, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife plans to introduce another five this coming March.

[Denver Gazette]