Greenback Cutthroat Trout arrive!

Last week, the Grizzly Falls pool in Rocky Mountain Wild shimmered and glimmered as the Colorado Division of Wildlife released a shipment of Greenback Cutthroat Trout into the water.

The Greenback Cutthroat Trout once swam in large numbers throughout streams in the South Platte and Arkansas Rivers above an altitude of 5000 feet. A number of factors including pollution, irrigation diversion, over-fishing and the introduction of non-native trout species such as rainbow and brown trout into the main rivers and brook trout into the small headwater streams all contributed to the greenback’s rapid disappearance. By 1937, scientists thought greenbacks were extinct.

In 1969, these trout were rediscovered in a few miles of very small streams where they had been isolated from contact with non-native trout. Greenback Cutthroat Trout were classified as endangered under the 1973 Endangered Species Act.

Although there has been much success in reestablishing Greenback Cutthroat Trout, they are still considered to be a species at risk. Recovery efforts in the wild will continue.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo invites you to Rocky Mountain Wild to view this beautiful, native species!