Industry News
After not killing any livestock for more than 100 days, the wolves released on Colorado’s Western Slope in December 2023 killed a calf in Jackson County on April 7. It is the second killing of a calf by wolves in the last five days. A prior wolf depredation was reported on April 2 in Grand County, 30 miles away.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) released a total of ten gray wolves onto public land in Grand County in December 2023. The first few months went without any reported livestock attacks but now the ten wolves have struck twice in five days. CPW launched a field investigation into the injuries sustained by a calf in Jackson County that was reported on April 7 and concluded that the marks were consistent with wolf depredation. Partial wolf tracks and partially-consumed hindquarters were also discovered. CPW is aware of four wolves in the area as the organization keeps track of the wolves’ movements by means of GPS collars.
The wolf release was part of Proposition 114 (State Statute 33-2-105.8) which instructs the CPW Commission to reintroduce gray wolves to Colorado by December 31, 2023. The State Statute came into effect following a public vote in Colorado in 2020, which voted in favor of the wolf reintroduction to Colorado. While scientists believe that the gray wolves will restore the Colorado ecosystem, the reintroduction has not been without controversy. Calving season has just started and farmers are very worried for their most vulnerable livestock. Local ranchers were angered when they found out that half of the Colorado wolves that had been captured in Oregon had come from packs with confirmed livestock depredations according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. It is believed that attacks on livestock are a learned behavior that gets passed from mature wolves to pups.
CPW is aiming to work together with ranchers through this reintroduction to ensure damage to Colorado livestock is kept at an absolute minimum and is advising ranchers on non-lethal herd protection. Because it was a confirmed wolf depredation, the ranchers in question will be eligible for compensation by CPW. It is the 22nd attack by wolves in Colorado since December 2021, when the North Park pack, which had migrated naturally from Wyoming, killed a cow. Said pack has been responsible for a total of 20 livestock depredations. The North Pack now consists of only two wolves, a male and a breeding female. CPW was able to trace both the North Pack pair as well as some of the newly released Oregon wolves in the area of the recent attack from the wolves’ GPS data and it is possible that the packs have merged.
