Species of animals and plants are disappearing at an alarming rate these days, but luckily, there are also a lot of scientists out there using their brains and skills to find a way to save many of them before that happens.

The wolverine was once native to the Rocky Mountains, but they haven’t been seen in the wild there for more than a century.

The reason is largely because they were a nuisance to those trying to set down roots in the American West. To keep their homes and livestock well, they trapped, poisoned, and shot the animal nearly out of existence.

A bipartisan bill on the Colorado legislature is hoping to bring the wolverine back to their state under the close observation of the parks and wildlife division.

Megan Mueller, a conservation biologist for Rocky Mountain Wild, spoke with the local news about their efforts.

“Wolverines are one of the last species that historically called Colorado home that have yet to be restored. Bringing wolverines back to Colorado is the best way to given them a chance to survive as the climate changes.”

They’re proposing to reintroduce three endangered species back to the high alpine habitats they favor, believing the cold and snow will help the animal to survive longer.

Colorado has seven million suitable acres, which makes it the largest unoccupied habitat for wolverines in the lower 48 states.

There are only an estimated 400 total wolverines in the lower 48, which means the 100 they plan to release in Colorado would constitute a significant boost.

Populations have already been reintroduced in Washington, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, and individuals have been sighted in Oregon, Utah, and California. The wanderers are most likely to be male, so researchers in Colorado want to make sure that females are introduced there, too.

There are still a few hurdles before this bill passes and wolverines actually end up back on the ground. One of the biggest ones is trappers finding the animals in Alaska and transporting them to Colorado.

The bill itself will need to make sure that areas that are home to ski resorts will be able to operate even once the wolverines return, and the parks and wildlife commission will have to compensate people if their livestock fall prey to the reintroduced animal.

Which is all to say, the road ahead remains a long one littered with obstacles.

People like wildlife research scientists Jake Ivan, though, believe traversing it will be worth it in the end.

“I think it gives us the best chance of restoring the population to Colorado.”

Long story short… they were here first.

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