Colorado wildlife officials announced Sunday that they had released a total of 20 gray wolves into the wild over the past eight days, marking the second year of operations for the state’s voter-mandated reintroduction program.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is currently monitoring nine wild wolves. The wildlife agency captured six of those animals in Oregon in December 2023, then released the predators in Grand and Summit counties to kick off the official reintroduction program. Voters approved the program through a ballot initiative in 2020.

Colorado officials have said they anticipate releasing 30 to 50 wolves within the next five years with the goal of filling one of the last major holes in the Western U.S. for the species, which in years past has ranged from northern Canada to the desert Southwest.

This week, more wolves were released in Colorado as part of an initiative to reintroduce the species to the state. The gray wolf has been endangered in the United States for many years, and recent poaching and habitat loss have further diminished their numbers.