Editing Colorado (section)

==Fauna==
{{Further|topic=the lists of |List of amphibians of Colorado|label1=amphibians|List of birds of Colorado|label2=birds|List of mammals of Colorado|label3=mammals|List of reptiles of Colorado|label4=reptiles}}
[[File:Colorado Wolf - Colorado Taxidermist, Edwin Carter, Collection in Breckenridge, Mounted Wolf from a kill in Colorado Rockies.jpg|thumb|upright|Breckenridge naturalist [[Edwin Carter]] with a mounted [[gray wolf]] killed in the Colorado Rockies, {{circa}} 1890–1900|alt=Photo of Breckenridge naturalist Edwin Carter standing next to a taxidermied gray wolf killed in the Colorado Rockies, c. 1890–1900]]

A process of extirpation by trapping and poisoning of the [[gray wolf]] (''Canis lupus'') from Colorado in the 1930s saw the last wild wolf in the state shot in 1945.<ref name="SierraWolf">{{cite web|url=https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/wolves-are-coming-back-colorado-now-comes-tricky-part|title=Wolves Are Coming Back to Colorado. Now Comes the Tricky Part.|work=Sierra|publisher=[[Sierra Club]]|date=November 18, 2020|last=Purtell|first=Joe|access-date=March 25, 2021}}</ref> A [[Repopulation of wolves in Colorado|wolf pack recolonized Moffat County, Colorado]] in northwestern Colorado in 2019.<ref>{{cite news |title=Polis welcomes wolves back to Colorado after wildlife officers confirm pack of 6 in Moffat County |author=Bruce Finley |date=January 22, 2020 |newspaper=Denver Post |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2020/01/22/colorado-wolves-return/?spot_im_verify=signup&spot_im_token_ticket=08535d639c2a48cd8276cc78dd53c7ea }}</ref> Cattle farmers have expressed concern that a returning wolf population potentially threatens their herds.<ref name="SierraWolf" /> Coloradans [[2020 Colorado Proposition 114|voted to reintroduce gray wolves]] in 2020, with the state committing to a plan to have a population in the state by 2022 and permitting non-lethal methods of driving off wolves attacking livestock and pets.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2021/03/21/colorado-gray-wolf-reintroduction-plan/|title = As Colorado starts planning to bring back wolves, Rio Blanco County's leaders say they won't allow it|newspaper = The Denver Post|date = March 21, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://coloradosun.com/2022/01/12/colorado-hazing-wolves-cowboy-dog-killed/|title=Colorado wildlife officials just legalized hazing wolves. It came too late for a cowboy whose dog was killed.|work=[[The Colorado Sun]]|date=12 January 2022|last=Gillbert|first=David|access-date=3 February 2022}}</ref>

While there is fossil evidence of [[Harrington's mountain goat]] in Colorado between at least 800,000 years ago and its extinction with [[megafauna]] roughly 11,000 years ago, the [[mountain goat]] is not native to Colorado but was instead introduced to the state over time during the interval between 1947 and 1972. Despite being an artificially-introduced species, the state declared mountain goats a native species in 1993.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.colorado.edu/asmagazine/2019/12/06/introduced-mountain-goats-have-colonized-much-land-above-trees|title=Introduced mountain goats have colonized much of the land above the trees|last=Mitton|first=Jeff|date=December 9, 2019|work=Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine|publisher=[[University of Colorado Boulder]] |location=[[Boulder, Colorado|Boulder, CO]] |access-date=March 1, 2021 }}</ref> In 2013, 2014, and 2019, an unknown illness killed nearly all mountain goat kids, leading to a [[Colorado Parks and Wildlife]] investigation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cpw.state.co.us/aboutus/Pages/News-Release-Details.aspx?NewsID=7550|title=CPW launches study to identify unknown disease in mountain goats|publisher=[[Colorado Parks and Wildlife]]|date=August 11, 2021|location=[[Mount Blue Sky|Mount Blue Sky, CO]]|access-date=March 1, 2021|archive-date=May 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508140136/https://cpw.state.co.us/aboutus/Pages/News-Release-Details.aspx?NewsID=7550|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.outtherecolorado.com/news/study-launched-to-identify-disease-thats-killing-mountain-goats-in-colorado/article_5cdf3a38-dc10-11ea-972c-279311589177.html|title=Study launched to identify disease that's killing mountain goats in Colorado|work=Out There Colorado|last=McKee|first=Spencer|date=August 11, 2020|access-date=March 1, 2021}}</ref>

The native population of [[pronghorn]] in Colorado has varied wildly over the last century, reaching a low of only 15,000 individuals during the 1960s. However, conservation efforts succeeded in bringing the stable population back up to roughly 66,000 by 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gohunt.com/read/antelope-numbers-across-6-states#gs.x2odjd|title=Antelope Numbers Across 6 States|work=GoHunt|access-date=March 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312113526/https://www.gohunt.com/read/antelope-numbers-across-6-states|archive-date=March 12, 2016}}</ref> The population was estimated to have reached 85,000 by 2019 and had increasingly more run-ins with the increased suburban housing along the eastern Front Range. State wildlife officials suggested that landowners would need to modify fencing to allow the greater number of pronghorns to move unabated through the newly developed land.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://coloradosun.com/2019/01/21/colorado-pronghorn-antelope-recovery/|title=Colorado's booming pronghorn population is running horns-first into newly built neighborhoods|last=Brown|first=Jennifer|work=The Colorado Sun|date=January 21, 2019|access-date=March 24, 2021}}</ref> Pronghorns are most readily found in the northern and eastern portions of the state, with some populations also in the western San Juan Mountains.<ref>{{cite iucn|author=IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group|year= 2016 |title=''Antilocapra americana'' |errata= 2017 |page= e.T1677A115056938 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T1677A50181848.en |access-date=March 25, 2021}}</ref>

Common wildlife found in the mountains of Colorado include [[mule deer]], [[southwestern red squirrel]], [[golden-mantled ground squirrel]], [[yellow-bellied marmot]], [[moose]], [[American pika]], and [[red fox]], all at exceptionally high numbers, though moose are not native to the state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mammalsociety.org/southwestern-red-squirrel|title=Southwestern Red Squirrel|publisher=[[American Society of Mammalogists]]|access-date=3 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/9-fascinating-facts-about-pika-in-colorado/73-249834117|title=9 fascinating facts about pika in Colorado|publisher=[[KUSA]]|last=Sommariva|first=Kelly|date=6 February 2014|access-date=3 February 2022|location=[[Denver]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://visitclearcreek.com/activities/colorado-wildlife/yellow-bellied-marmot/|title=Yellow Bellied Marmot|publisher=[[Clear Creek County, Colorado|Clear Creek County Tourism Bureau]]|location=[[Clear Creek County, Colorado|Clear Creek County]], CO|access-date=3 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/WildlifeSpecies/Mammals/MooseReintroductionFactSheet.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/WildlifeSpecies/Mammals/MooseReintroductionFactSheet.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Moose Reintroduction|publisher=[[Colorado Parks and Wildlife]]|date=November 2013|access-date=3 February 2022}}</ref> The foothills include [[deer]], [[fox squirrel]], [[desert cottontail]], [[mountain cottontail]], and [[coyote]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.arapahoegov.com/1219/Rabbits|title=Rabbits|publisher=[[Arapahoe County, Colorado|Arapahoe County Government]]|last=Cahill|first=Caitlyn|access-date=3 February 2022|archive-date=4 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204045049/https://www.arapahoegov.com/1219/Rabbits|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1536555|title=Coyote Hunt for Colorado|last=Brady|first=Jeff|date=7 December 2003|publisher=[[National Public Radio]]|access-date=3 February 2022}}</ref> The prairies are home to [[black-tailed prairie dog]], the endangered [[swift fox]], [[American badger]], and [[white-tailed jackrabbit]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jeffco.us/DocumentCenter/View/16975/Prairie-Dog-Fact-Sheet-2019-PDF?bidId=|title=Black-tailed Prairie Dogs|access-date=3 February 2022|publisher=[[Jefferson County, Colorado|Jefferson County Government]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/SwiftFoxConservationTeam.aspx|title=Swift Fox Conservation Team|access-date=3 February 2022|publisher=[[Colorado Parks and Wildlife]]|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203161534/https://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/SwiftFoxConservationTeam.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.coloradovirtuallibrary.org/resource-sharing/state-pubs-blog/colorados-small-mammals-part-iii-mustelids/|title=Colorado's Small Mammals, Part III: Mustelids|last=Zimmer|first=Amy|date=6 January 2020|access-date=3 February 2022|publisher=Colorado Virtual Library}}</ref>