Rare Colorado Cutthroat Subspecies Rebounding from Near Extinction

Hayden Creek Cutthroat trout have proven to be true survivors. Photo: Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

One of the country’s rarest trout subspecies is making a remarkable comeback in southeastern Colorado. As Chris Hunt reports in Hatch magazine, the Hayden Creek cutthroat was nearly wiped out by wildfire in 2016, but biologists have made a startling discovery:

A native cutthroat trout found only in the Arkansas River drainage of southern Colorado, and once on the brink of extinction, is now reproducing naturally in waters where it was reintroduced after a devastating wildfire wiped out much of its native habitat nine years ago.

The last known Hayden Creek cutthroat trout—probably most closely related to Colorado’s state fish, the greenback cutthroat trout—were literally pulled from an active fire zone on Hayden Pass in 2016 in order to keep the fish from winking out altogether. Just last fall, Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists confirmed that reintroduced populations of the fish were reproducing, and, more importantly, they reported, the fish had reproduced several times since they were reintroduced in their once-native waters.

Click Here for the Full Story in Hatch Magazine

For some background on the rescue efforts to save the Hayden Creek cutthroat, listen to this short 2021 podcast: