Garfield County commissioners are urging Colorado wildlife managers to halt further releases of gray wolves in the state.

Colorado wildlife officials released 15 wolves from Canada into the central mountains over the last week as part of the second wave of the state’s historic, voter-mandated reintroduction of the native predator.

A year after Colorado kicked off its historic wolf restoration program, the state has brought a second group of Canadian wolves to the Western Slope.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife says 15 more wolves are now in the state as part of the revitalization effort for the species. The animals were released in Eagle and Pitkin Counties.

A second group of wolves has been released in Colorado as part of a controversial, voter-driven initiative to reintroduce the predators to the state. Fifteen gray wolves from Canada were set free in the central mountains over three days last week,

The wolves were darted and immobilized in Oregon by expert marksmen and biologists working from a helicopter. They were netted and then brought onto small planes and eventually transported to vehicles,

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.

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.