A female wolf that appears to be traveling solo was recently located in the San Juan and Animas watersheds, but whether she plans on staying a while or traveling through is still to be determined.

While each reintroduced wolf was outfitted with a GPS tracking collar, Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) only updates wolf whereabouts at the end of each month, according to The Norwood Post. 

“The wolf map just shows each watershed as highlighted if there was at least one point from a GPS collar in the watershed at any time during the month. So, it doesn't mean that there are wolves in the San Juans now,” said Matt Barnes, rangeland scientist and wildlife conservationist.

Even so, the female wolf’s collar shows she’s traveled almost 2,000 miles around the Centennial State. 

“It is not unusual for young, dispersal-aged wolves to go on long solo journeys. This one is impressive for its length and for the fact that she walked so far while managing to stay almost entirely within Colorado — she appears to have briefly entered Utah — but it isn't unprecedented,” said Matt Barnes.

Further, wolves tend to wander for a while before settling on an established territory though this wolf has pretty good taste when it comes to selecting a potential range. The San Juans are perfectly suited for wolves and, before the reintroduction effort, the state’s last wolf was killed on the east side of the San Juans along the Conejos River back in 1945, according to The Norwood Post.

“As Colorado's wolf population increases and packs form, their movements are likely to become more predictable as they establish themselves in specific areas,” said Travis Duncan, CPW public information supervisor. “At this point, most of the wolves in Colorado are in an exploratory mode and not defending a territory, making it more difficult to predict movements.”