State wildlife biologists say they think M56, the solo male wolverine that migrated more than 500 miles to Colorado from Wyoming last spring, appears to have settled in at the snowy edge of Rocky Mountain National Park, raising hopes for the survival of the species and other threatened carnivores.

Climate change appears to be shrinking nationwide the snowy habitat needed to sustain predators including wolves, wolverines and lynx, wildlife experts said Monday at a conference on climate change put on by the advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife.

Colorado, with its abundant federal lands at elevations higher than 12,000 feet, increasingly is seen as a prime refuge where threatened and endangered species could be reintroduced.

“We have to focus on areas that are most resistant to climate change, and Colorado is one of them,” said David Gaillard, northern Rockies representative for Defenders of Wildlife. “We’d love to help the state raise money” for a project.

Colorado biologists who successfully reintroduced lynx in high-mountain terrain now are beginning to talk about the wolverine.

“This seems like the best place to restore wolverines,” Gaillard said. “The agencies will have to go through their analysis. But Colorado led the way with the lynx. Lynx are a lot more sensitive than wolverines.”

A state-federal study for conserving the lynx, done in 1997, concluded that “since the wolverine occupies much of the same habitat, it would be advisable that (the wolverine) be included as well.”

Colorado Division of Wildlife spokesman Tyler Baskfield said exploration of the possibilities for a multistate effort “is in the infancy stage,” and discussions will involve other agencies, agricultural producers and the public.

Fewer than 500 wolverines have survived in the Lower 48 states — in Idaho, Washington, Montana and Wyoming, according to the latest research. Once, wolverines scavenged across Colorado, Utah, California and the Great Lakes region, but trapping and predator control using poison-laced bait decimated the species.

Now federal authorities are reviewing a petition to list wolverines as threatened or endangered.

The wolverine that trekked from Grand Teton National Park to higher terrain here had been fitted with a radio chip in its belly and a locator collar as part of a research project. M56 ditched the collar, but the battery-powered radio chip still sends signals.

Colorado Division of Wildlife officials for five months have monitored its movements, flying over it every other week.

After M56’s arrival, biologists wondered whether it could survive this far south, said Shane Briggs, wildlife conservation program supervisor for the state.

Biologists believe the wolverine has found food — probably marmots.

“Fortunately, he’s still there, which is pretty exciting,” Briggs said. “It’s a chance to have a species living in the state that hasn’t been confirmed here for 90 years.”

Bruce Finley: 303-954-1700 or bfinley@denverpost.com