Wolf Kills One Dog, Injures Another In Jackson County

JACKSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) -- A wolf killed one dog and injured another in Jackson County, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials confirmed. The border collies were attacked on a ranch about 15 miles east of Walden and were discovered on Sunday morning.

"After an initial investigation, CPW wildlife officers have confirmed a wolf depredation incident has occurred," stated Travis Duncan, Public Information Supervisor for CPW.

Carlos Atencio is the ranch manager of the property and the owner of the dogs. "Buster" was killed.

Atencio said the other dog, a female, came to the porch and was "kind of bruised up a little bit, banged up and cut up." That's when he went to look for "Bus" and noticed the tracks in the snow.

"There were dang sure wolf tracks all over the place," Atencio told Steamboat Radio.

He shared photos of tracks left in the snow, with a ruler and a glove for size references.

The prints appear to be about four inches long, or the size of the palm of a man's hand.

"The results of this investigation indicated wolf tracks in the immediate vicinity of the carcass and wounds on the dog carcass consistent with wolf depredation," said CPW Area Wildlife Manager Kris Middledorf.

RELATED: Wolf Kills Cow In Colorado For First Time in 70 Years

In an interview with Steamboat Radio, Atencio says there's not a lot he can do since wolves are protected in Colorado.

He said will be filing paperwork with Colorado Parks and Wildlife Thursday to be reimbursed with the state as Bus was a working dog on his ranch.

This is the second incident of wolf depredation in Colorado in the past few weeks. Wildlife experts in Colorado say they're confident a cow in North Park was killed by a wolf in late December. That was the first recorded incident of wolf depredation in the state in decades.