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. (' ') :,!~ i ..... - ... ..._-~ . . -2, , Wolf: In his authoritative works on the wolf, Stanley P. Young (3) shows (,he entire western one-half of Colorado as occupied wolf range in 1915 but completely absent from the state in 1941. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service rated the wolf as extinct in Colorado in 1939. A status report on wolves for the same year by the U. S. Forest Service shows no wolves on national forests in Colorado. Reports continued to persist, however, into the 1';160's in the area to the west of the Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area. Vernon Stees, Clark, Colorado, reportedly saw a wolf in 1962 or 63 in the Pilot Nab area. A federal trapper was sent into the Black-Mountain al'ea in 1966 to work on wolves allegedly preYlllg on liv'estock. Rare and Endangered Species Rare or endangered species for the Mount Zirkel area include bighorn sheep, mountain lion, wolverine, black-footed ferret, raccoon, ringtail cat, peregrine falcon and greater sandhill crane. While classified as rare or endangered in this area only the black-footed ferret and peregrine falcon are on the federal list of threatened species. These two species and the wolverine are on the Colorado Wildlife Comnlission's rare and endangered lis t. Bighorn Sheep: Buechner (4) reported bighorn sheep as common between Buffalo Pass and Mount Zirkel in 1905. In a 1957 report (5), lvloser and Pillmore reported counts of 22 sheep in the Mount Ethel area and 40 more between Mount Zirkel and the Wyon,ing border. Numbers of bighorns dwindled until none were seen in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Two observations during the summer of 1972 confirmed the presence of bighorns in the area. Whether these sightings, on Rocky Peak and near Seven Lakes, are remnants of the original Park Range Herd or have drifted into the area from transplants just north of the Colorado, Wyoming bound- ary is not kno'wn. Mountain Lions: There IS no evidence to indicate Inountain lion were ever abundant in the Park Range of Routt and Jackson counties. Only six. lions were bouoticd froIn these t\vo counties from 1953 until 1965, when the bounty was removed. No liolls were ,"eported killed in this area from 1965 to 1969 when the area was open to hunting of this species as a game animal. These counties were closed to all lion Illlnting in the years 1970 thru 1971. Hunting was again permitted in 1972 and 73, when lion hunting was permitted statewide. In any event, lions must be considered rare in the Mount Zirkel Area.