Editor's Note: This story contains content that may be bothering some readers. This is the second story in a series about Colorado's wolf reintroduction efforts and their impact on farmers. read Part 1 here.
Grand County, Colorado – Bone protruding above the intestines and other organs spilled from a cavity in which the hind legs of the calf were torn apart. The remaining dorsal corner holes of the animals are pooled with dark, mirror-packed blood. The front half of the calf looked untouched, and its legs curled in a futile final effort to escape.
Crossing the field, dozens of cows leaned together, looking towards the small, broken corpses. It was the fourth dead calf the Farrells discovered in the last 24 hours.
“Up to this point, we didn't know what the wolf murder would look like,” ranch Conway Farrell said of the horrifying discovery last April. “It's the most sickest thing you've ever seen.”
Farrell and other ranchers on the western slopes of Colorado feel that their way of life is under threat after wildlife officials began reintroducing the grey wolves in late 2023. Now they want the Trump administration to intervene on their behalf.
Conway Farrell said his family discovered four dead children in one day at the ranch last April. (Provided by: Middle Park Stock Glowers Association)
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Colorado Wildlife officials released 10 wolves in December 2023 on public land west of the Continental Divide. A few months later, the livestock murder began.
Rob Edward of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Foundation, spearheading the voting measure to reclaim the wolves, said that should be expected.
“I would have been shocked if I hadn't seen at least dozens of cows and sheep that had been taken to wolves since that first year,” Edward told Fox News Digital. “The sky hasn't fallen, is it?”
In the Northern Rockies, where grey wolves were reintroduced 30 years ago, wolves kill less than 1% of the cows that share the land. In general, wolves are responsible for the deaths of less than half of the cattle as dogs, To USDA data.
“Even though that's true, we know that it's a big deal for individual ranchers to lose their livestock to wolves,” Edward said. “That hurts financially, and that's why when we brought Proposition 114 to the vote, we incorporated the compensation component.”
Rancher submits more than $580,000 to the claim
The state is legally required to pay the livestock owner a loss if an animal is injured or killed by a wolf, up to $15,000 per animal.
But ranchers say it's not that easy. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) biologists must first confirm that wolves are the cause of the death of animals known as “looting.” To do this, you need a body. It's still a good shape.
“It's really hard to find a body in time, especially in the summer,” said rancher Caitlyn Tausig. “If you haven't found it within the first few hours, it's being cleaned or eaten by other animals because it's impossible to know what happened.”
In late December, Grand County ranchers sent CPW a $582,000 bill for wolves murder and related losses. Of that, more than $420,000 came from a single ranch in Farrell.
Compared to the average year, 65 extra calves have never returned from summer pastures. The ranch recorded nine extra missing cows and 14 sheep. Also, cows were 40 pounds lighter on average, with lower conception rates. This was due to stress.
“It's all from a small pack of wolves,” he said.
As of February 1, Farrell said he had not received compensation.
“I hope they pay for it,” he said. “If not, we might not be in business in a year.”
The son of CONWAY FARRELL holds one of his lambs as a CPW agent is doing an autopsy on the sheep. (Conway Farrell)
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Asked about livestock claims, a CPW spokesman directed Fox News Digital to a list of wolves plundering confirmed by September 9th.
According to the rancher, the pair of wolves, which formed by raising Copper Creek Packs, was responsible for most of the claimed livestock killings.
The woman and four puppies were eventually relocated to reduce the looting of livestock. The man died of a gunshot wound shortly after being captured by wildlife authorities. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and wolves supporters are offering rewards for information about shootings as grey wolves are currently listed as at risk in both the federal government and Colorado.
Ranchers are asking the president's attention as local governments deny petitions to suspend wolves releases
Tim Ritzshard deployed the American flag, then picked a zip tie from between his teeth and used it to secure the old glory corners to a post on a metal fence. The biting January wind quickly swirled with both flags. Bookends read, “Governor Police is throwing us at the wolves! He's throwing us at President Trump! Help me!”
“There's a kind of love-hate relationship between the president and our governor,” said Ritschard, a fifth-generation rancher and president of the Middle Park Stock Growers Association. “So I think this is what we thought we could get his help and get this out there.”
Trump and the Colorado governor spare subjects such as tariffs and immigration, and at the time Trump called police “collisans” and “scam” during his campaign trip to Aurora, Colorado. Police, a Democrat, welcomes the federal government's helping to remove criminals and gang members ahead of Trump's inauguration, but said he opposes the deportation of law-abiding illegal immigrants. .
“some [agricultural] Producers are already asking the Fed to step in [wolves] “And we wanted the federal government to come in and take over this.
Agricultural producers hoped to set up a large banner along Highway 9 in Grand County, Colorado at the end of last year to attract President Trump's attention. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)
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All Republicans in Colorado US House Members It criticized the reintroduction of wolves, and in mid-January urged the next Trump administration to stop “more imports of these foreign predators into the United States.” Additionally, two representatives are attempting to remove the grey wolf from the federal endangered species list.
Ritschard spoke to Fox News Digital ahead of both his presidency and a vital local meeting. On January 8, 2025, wildlife officials were set to decide whether to press a pause for wolves' reintroduction.
In late September, more than 20 livestock and farming organizations petitioned the state to delay future wolves releases until looting was addressed and conflict with livestock was alleviated.
After a few hours of meeting, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Committee voted 10-1 to reject the petition.
Within 48 hours, the CPW agent was in British Columbia. Wildlife agents heard the wolves scream as the transport helicopter landed in the snow and the rotors roared. According to the CPW, there are “a wealth of grey wolves” somewhere between 5,300 and 11,600 in Canada.
CPW captured 15 wolves and released them in Eagle and Pitkin counties over three days from January 12th to 16th. Currently, there are 29 wolves in Colorado, but some people wander the state from Wyoming.
Livestock industries that promote “sense of harm and anger” must “adapt”
Edward said there was no need to worry about individual ranchers making a living, but he accused the livestock industry of foming “sense of sacrifice and anger” rather than accepting the solution. .
“If they're working with state agencies, there are a lot of resources that will help them prevent future looting. They just need to get into the game. That's pretty easy,” he says. Ta. “They have options. They can fight and eventually lose or adapt.”
Ranchers Fox News Digital said it is widely supported using range riders as a way to protect herds from wolves. Range riders can ride horses, patrol rough terrain with feet or ATVs, and use non-lethal deterrents to scare wolves. In 2024, the state hired four range riders, a local outlet reported. This year, CPW will employ up to 12 range riders using money from sales of wolves license plates in Colorado to spend money from sales totaling $544,000 as of November 1st. I hope that.
However, Ritschard said other tools, like Fladry (a bright flag hanging down along the fence line), are unrealistic.
“We have 300 acres of childbirth,” Ritzshard said as he was driving along a remote country road near the family's ranch. “We have to put three miles of castration around the fence, which would be pretty difficult to keep up.”
The reintroduction of wolves is an emotional sacrifice to Tausig. She worries about the safety of her dogs and livestock every day. She eventually raises animals for food, but she says it's her passion for them to ensure a “great life” and a quick, painless death.
Caitlyn Taussig performs calf ko operations with her mother. She said they have not confirmed wolves looting, but they are missing two calves. (Courtysy Caitlyn Taussig)
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The idea that her “sweet domestic cow” could be eaten alive and chased by predators paused to wipe tears from her eyes.
“People think ranchers are really wealthy people, but we work cruelly long hours without paying too much, and that's a dangerous life,” she finally said. “Then you have to turn around and worry about something new, so it's really hard to deal with.”
