Several animals captured from Colorado's Copper Creek wolf pack will be relocated following repeated attacks on livestock.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) said in a press release that one adult female and four cubs were moved to a “safe location for evaluation and monitoring.” An adult male from the pack was captured but died in captivity from injuries unrelated to the capture, officials announced Monday. The wolf would have been placed in captivity had it survived.
“After a pair of wolves established a den in Middle Park this spring, an adult male was involved in multiple depredatory incidents,” CPW Director Jeff Davis said in a statement. “At a time when the male was their only source of food and the female was resting in the den, removing the male would have been lethal to the pups and a violation of the restoration order.”
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FILE – In this photo provided by Colorado State Parks and Wildlife Department, wildlife officials release five wolves on public land, Monday, Dec. 18, 2023, in Grand County, Colorado. (Colorado Natural Resources News via The Associated Press)
State officials said the four fawns “still rely primarily on adult game for food” and are therefore “unable to hunt anything larger than a rabbit or squirrel” and therefore have not been involved in any cattle or sheep kills in Grant County.
The owners of the slaughtered calves will be compensated by the state up to $15,000, the market value of the animals.
Officials decided not to cull the herd because it could pose a major setback to restoration efforts, which are still in their early stages.
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A herd of cattle heading to Centennial Ranch in Colorado's San Juan Mountains crosses Highway 550 north of Ridgway. (Joe Soam/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The attack on the Copper Creek pack and its subsequent capture mark an early failure in a voter-led effort to reinstate wolves, which were wiped out decades ago by poison, trapping and hunting.
“The restoration plan is still in its early stages. Our legal obligation to the voters of Colorado is to continue working toward maintaining a sustainable population, while minimizing producer losses and ensuring the health, safety and well-being of wolves,” Davis said.
In 2020, Colorado voters passed Proposition 114, requiring the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department to reintroduce gray wolves to designated areas west of the Continental Divide by December 31, 2023. Wolves that have strayed into Colorado from neighboring Wyoming have worried ranchers that they will prey on their livestock and challenged the success of the reintroduction program. (Jason Connolly/AFP via Getty Images)
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“We will use the lessons we learn here to build a strong program with our federal and state partners, wolf restoration advocacy groups and ranching organizations,” Davis added. “The more we can listen to each other, understand each other and collaborate, the better off we'll all be in the long run. Our focus right now in this case is the healthy release of the remaining members of the Copper Creek pack.”
It has yet to be decided where to release the rest of the herd, but officials said the location will be when the fawns are older and able to hunt on their own.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
