How a Fort Collins man got the only images of a wolverine in Rocky Mountain National Park

While music lovers were mourning the death of Michael Jackson, wildlife lovers were celebrating the life of a wolverine.

But not just any wolverine.

The first-ever and only known images of a wolverine were photographed in then-94-year-old Rocky Mountain National Park by Fort Collins photographer Ray Rafiti on June 26, 2009 — one day after the musical icon's death. It was the first confirmed wolverine in Colorado in 90 years.

The thought of wolverines in Colorado has been rekindled after a bill to eventually reintroduce the rare and solitary carnivore was introduced March 11 by Colorado Parks and Wildlife and a bipartisan group of legislators.

Colorado reintroduced 10 wolves in December 2023 under its plan to release 30 to 50 in total over the next three to five years.

'A once-in-a-lifetime moment'

Rafiti, a wildlife and landscape photographer, and two friends decided to drive to Rocky Mountain National Park to look for wildlife on that day.

The three were driving on Trail Ridge Road between the Ute Trail Trailhead and Rainbow Curve overlook when one of Rafiti's friends saw what he thought was a dog running cross the road.

The trio traveled a little farther down the road before stopping when they saw elk feeding in a big bowl above the old T-bar ski lift at the former Hidden Valley ski area, where Rafiti skied in his youth.

It was around 7:30 p.m. when they walked into the bowl. Rafiti sat down with his camera and attached 100-400 mm lens between his legs and was watching a bull elk lying down on the tundra when the elk suddenly spooked and bolted.

He looked over his shoulder to see what he first thought was a bear cub lumbering in the trees but was "pretty sure" when it continued into the open that it was a wolverine, having seen one in the wild in Wyoming in 1978. He grabbed his camera from between his legs and began to shoot.

"He popped out of the trees, paused in our proximity for 15 seconds, and I was able to get about 20 photos," Rafiti told the Coloradoan on Sunday. "I don't think he ever saw us sitting there. It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment that you certainly don't plan for, but I was in the right place at the right time and nothing more than that."

Because the rare sighting came so quickly, Rafiti wasn't sure if he had been able to capture a clear image of the wolverine, which proved to be the first confirmed sighting in Colorado since 1919.

"Looking through my little screen, it was tough to see what kind of detail I had," Rafiti said. "As far as settings, they weren't optimal for a moving animal, so I wasn't completely sure I had a good shot. It wasn't until later until when I downloaded the image I knew I had a good enough photo of a wolverine that walked right into our laps."

After knowing he had a clear image, he provided it to Rocky Mountain National Park for verification and contacted the Coloradoan to share his story, which went viral. At the time, Rafiti was a columnist for the Coloradoan writing his "Wild Faces Wild Places" columns on outdoor photography.

Whatever happened to M56, the wide-wandering wolverine from Wyoming?

Wolverines are solitary animals known to wander long distances in search of animal carcasses to scavenge, small prey and mates. But even for wolverines, this wolverine was a prolific adventurer.

Researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society captured the young male wolverine, tagged as M56 on its collar, for study purposes in 2008 just south of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The study involved looking at how habitat conservation and connectivity might aid in wolverines traveling long distances.

M56 spent 2009 through at least 2012 in the high mountains of Colorado, traveling as far as the Breckenridge area, where state wildlife officials monitored his movement for several months. Colorado wildlife officials said M56 had been in Colorado for two weeks before Rafiti captured his images.

Wolverines were always rare in Colorado, but a viable population existed until early in the 1900s. Twelve survey efforts from 1979 to 1996 yielded no confirmed sightings of wolverines, according to the state wildlife agency.

M56 slipped its collar at some point, but researchers had implanted a battery-powered radio chip in its abdomen that continued to send signals. That chip failed in 2012, leaving M56's fate unknown until late April 2016.

According to a report, a ranch hand was checking cattle near the small town of Alexander, North Dakota, about 20 miles east of the Montana state line and more than 700 miles from Rocky Mountain National Park, when he "discovered some cows had a strange animal circling in their pasture."

The ranch hand feared the animal was going to attack the cattle and shot it, the report said. It is legal to shoot animals threatening livestock in North Dakota.

It wasn't until the North Dakota Game and Fish Department did a necropsy on the wolverine that it was identified as M56 from the chip in its abdomen. Wildlife officials estimate M56 had traveled at least 2,000 miles over its approximately eight-year life.

"I can still remember doing the necropsy and when I opened up the abdomen and saw the transmitter lying there, my first thought was, 'I'm going to find out where he came from,' " said Stephanie Tucker, North Dakota Game and Fish Department game management section leader in Bismarck.

She said a mount of M56 is displayed at the agency's headquarters in Bismarck.

Until M56 was killed, there hadn't been a confirmed wolverine sighting in North Dakota since the 1850s, according to the Bismarck Tribune.

Rafiti said he reached out to the ranch hand who shot M56 but never received a response and soon thereafter, the ranch hand closed the Facebook page on which he included a photo of him holding the dead wolverine.

"It was heartbreaking hearing of how the epic journey of this animal ended, given how far it had traveled and never got to propagate its species," Rafiti said Sunday.

M56 photo still has a place in Rafiti's heart, home

Of all the images Rafiti shot over a more than 30-year photography career, he said the wolverine image ranks near, if not at, the top.

Rafiti, who retired from photography, said he never actively marketed the rare image but gave it to the National Park Service to sell in its gift shops, the Wolverine Foundation and other conservation organizations. It also has been used in children's books, he said.

Nonetheless, 15 years later, M56 has remained in his heart and home.

"I have it (a photo) up in my guest bedroom,'' he said. "It's definitely a photo that I'm proud of."

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: How a photographer captured the only images of a wolverine in RMNP