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Colorado gets another wave of wolves as wildlife officials reflect on lessons learned

Colorado gets another wave of wolves as wildlife officials reflect on lessons learned
Colorado gets another wave of wolves as wildlife officials reflect on lessons learned 02:35

Colorado has released another wave of wolves in a program mandated by voters through Proposition 113 in 2020. Fifteen wolves were moved from central British Columbia to Colorado's Western Slope, where the releases are mandated. 

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Fifteen wolves were moved from central British Columbia to Colorado's Western Slope, where the releases are mandated, in a second round of the wolf releases.  Colorado Parks and Wildlife

In addition, five members of the so-called, "Copper Creek Pack," of wolves were captured last year after predation. The male of the pack died of what was later determined to be an illegal gunshot wound. That was a female and four cubs.

"People say, 'It's going to be just like last year.' It's not," said Colorado Parks and Wildlife director Jeff Davis. "This is a whole new ball game."

The wolves were set free in Pitkin and Eagle counties in several releases last week.

The release of the wolves comes amid continuing controversy. There have been threats to CPW staff as the voter-mandated re-introduction is conducted.

Ranchers and agricultural interests recently called for a halt to the re-introduction program, which the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission voted down nearly unanimously in early January. Still, state wildlife officials know they have opposition among the ranching community. "We have a long way to go with our critical partnership with the ranching community here in Colorado," said Davis.

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Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers prepare to release a wolf into the wild. Colorado Parks and Wildlife

There continue to be worries about the predation of livestock as the wolves wander from their release points. They are often on the move and although the releases are required to be on the Western Slope by statute, wolves have crossed over the Continental Divide.

"We don't expect that the wolves will stay on a particular parcel of land for the duration of their lives at all. They cross rivers, they cross highways, they cross mountain ranges," said Eric ODell, CPW's Wolf Conservation Program Manager.

Wildlife managers say they are better prepared for this release having learned since wolves were first introduced in late 2023. They boast about a wildlife minimization plan that they believe will help.

"Dogs are smart. You can teach them. Wolves are even smarter. And you can teach them. And that's really what that conflict minimization is trying to do is alter the behavior," said Davis. "The goal here is that if and when they start to show that behavior, we cut it off and re-train them. And if that doesn't work, then we have that lethal management tool that needs to be implemented."

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Fifteen wolves were set free in Pitkin and Eagle Counties in several releases last week.  Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Relative to other predators, the toll inflicted by wolves is still minuscule, but sure to rise. The US Department of Agriculture in a count of predation in Colorado in 2023, found 18,600 sheep and lambs alone were killed by predators. Nearly half of the kills were blamed on coyotes, and a third on bears. So far, the number of confirmed wolf kills of all livestock, since some wolves wandered over the border from Wyoming in 2021 through the inception of the re-introduction plan in 2023, is 46.

Ranchers have complained about a slow and paperwork-laden process to apply for reimbursement for livestock losses. CPW says it is doubling the number of wildlife damage specialists from five to ten.

"If it is too complicated, we're trying to help those ranchers get the paperwork turned in, because we want to compensate them fairly," said Davis.

CPW says the wolves from British Columbia have not overlapped with livestock. They come from north central British Columbia where there is none nearby.

"Which isn't to say that those animals, those wolves will not get involved with depredation," explained Odell. "They will in time. Where wolves and livestock share the landscape there will be depredation."

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