Wildlife officials release reports detailing Colorado wolf control as feds threaten to amend criteria for lethal removal

Three wolves killed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife between Sept. 7 and 9 were from separate packs in western Colorado and all attacked livestock on ranches the agency said were using nonlethal tools to keep the predators from their livestock. 

In reports released this week, CPW said the shootings “were conducted in line with CPW’s statutory and regulatory authority,” and done under careful consideration of how to discourage further attacks without compromising the wolves’ ability to survive. 

Lethal removals are allowed under the federal 10(j) rule, which lets CPW kill wolves that have preyed on livestock under certain circumstances. But the agency’s use of the rule is under scrutiny by the federal government, which has indicated that CPW may not be doing enough to ease the burden of reintroduction on ranchers. 

On Oct. 27, the Department of the Interior released an order signed by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum saying the agency would review CPW’s use of the 10(j) rule and consider “amending regulations or providing additional guidance to enable greater responsiveness to situations involving wolf threats to human safety and persistent livestock depredation, including its criteria for authorizing lethal predator removal.”

The review is meant to “ensure that ranchers are adequately considered and compensated for livestock losses,” to examine “whether there has been full compliance with the program requirements,” and to “evaluate program modifications that will address other problems identified by ranchers.” 

It will be completed by Nov. 11. At that time, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will give CPW recommendations for program improvement including an update to the memorandum of understanding that allows CPW to act as a designated agent of the federal government in managing the state’s wolf reintroduction program. 

CPW has been under the Interior department’s microscope since the Fish and Wildlife Service announced a request for information about how the current nonlethal removal program was working for ranchers, landowners, agencies and other stakeholders in June. By the end of the public comment period, more than 1,000 people had commented, including Susan Nottingham, a ranch owner in Bond who said her employee killed a female wolf from the King Mountain pack after CPW refused to confirm wolves had killed several of her livestock, she said. 

The order has animal rights groups worried. But for now, gray wolves are protected under the state’s voter-approved restoration and management plan, in which harming, harassing or killing a wolf without authorization is illegal and can lead to severe civil or criminal fines, loss of hunting privileges or jail time. 

Copper Creek pack killed mature bull, cow and two calves in Pitkin County

CPW writes reports each time it decides to kill a wolf, with detailed analysis of why it did so. 

The report for a removal Sept. 7 said gray wolves from the Copper Creek pack killed a 1,500-pound mature cow, a mature bull and two 300- to 400-pound calves between July 29 and Sept. 4 in Pitkin County, all evidenced by bite marks and “rake” marks — long, parallel cuts and lacerations that look as though a garden rake was dragged across the skin — on each of the animals, as well as photos and videos state-contracted range riders took.

The attacks were both within the core territory of the Copper Creek pack and within two miles of an established rendezvous site. Four attacks occurred within 37 days, with three occurring within 30 days. 

CPW says its goals in carrying out a lethal removal include targeting the wolves responsible for the livestock attacks to the extent possible; minimizing the number of wolves that must be killed; changing pack behavior to reduce the potential for future attacks on livestock, and using the “fastest, safest, most humane and most cost-effective” methods available.

In addition to these, in the most recent case, the agency said, biological considerations supported removing a yearling, non-breeding wolf, “because removing a breeding-age pack member supplying young wolves with the food and nutrients they need to grow and survive can have greater implications for pack structure than removing a non-breeder and may result in pack disruption.”

On Sept. 7, CPW staff and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service went to a location with consistent wolf activity close to one of the livestock attacks, called in multiple wolves, positively identified a yearling and shot it with a high-caliber rifle. CPW took possession of the carcass and confirmed it as a yearling male wolf.

Three Creeks Pack killed 12 sheep and 3 ewes on one ranch 

The report for the second removal Sept. 7 said CPW confirmed wolves from the Three Creeks Pack killed 12 sheep and three ewes on a single ranch in Rio Blanco County. 

The first time CPW agents responded to the ranch, they were following a report of four missing guard dogs. While there, they located three lambs whose deaths were consistent with wolf attacks. 

The agency said the attacks took place within the Three Creeks Packʼs core territory and that data from the wolves’ collars confirmed their activity in the area. The pack contained at least two uncollared yearling wolves and four pups, and the attacks happened despite daily herder checks, guard dogs, hazing and range riding. 

On the last of four visits to confirm wolves were responsible for the attacks, two guardian dogs, additional to the four that were identified as missing, were observed with significant visible injuries, but CPW agents couldn’t get a close look because the dogs couldn’t be captured. 

On Sept. 7, upon request and direction from CPW, an Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services agent went to a location frequented by the Three Creeks Pack near the area where the attacks occurred. The agent saw several wolves, positively identified a yearling wolf “and when a humane shot opportunity was provided,” killed the wolf with a single shot from a rifle, according to the report. 

One Ear Pack killed 7 cows in 4 weeks on 4 ranches 

CPW killed the third wolf listed in the reports on the morning of Sept. 9 in Jackson County, four weeks after killing one of her packmates. 

She was also a yearling who preyed on livestock in Grand and Jackson counties despite ranchers implementing all viable, reasonable and effective nonlethal deterrence measures identified in site assessments and managing all known attractants that could lure wolves to the site, the report said. 

Following the removal of one of her packmates Aug. 4, CPW evaluated the effects of that removal on reducing conflict over the course of three weeks, while exploring and adding additional resources towards reducing conflict. 

During that period, wolves killed livestock on four separate ranches located in the core territory of their pack, including two 4-month-old calves weighing around 500 pounds each, a yearling steer weighing around 800 pounds and four calves weighing around 400 pounds each on a single ranch. 

At the time of the attacks, the One Ear Pack contained both collared and uncollared wolves. GPS collar data and analysis by CPW biologists established this pack has a large home territory and travels long distances within short time periods. The yearlings were among wolves that have harassed cattle owned by Jackson County rancher Adam VanValkenburg and neighboring ranches since before reintroduction started. VanValkenburg said a breeding pair migrated there from Wyoming and the pack has remained in the area ever since. Several of VanValkenburg’s  cattle have died but CPW has never confirmed wolves were the cause. 

The four ranchers who lost cattle in August had completed site assessments. CPW determined they’d used deterrence measures the agency had recommended before the livestock attacks. There were no known attractants identified at the times of the killings. 

After evaluating the possible outcomes of killing another pack member, CPW decided attacks would continue if wolves were not removed from the pack. Based on collar data, cellular trail camera photos and the approximate timing and coordinates of killings, the agency identified yearling gray wolves that were likely involved in the killings. 

On Aug. 28, CPW staff and wildlife services agents commenced operations for the removal of a yearling wolf from the One Ear Pack. Over the course of approximately two weeks, wolves were observed, and due diligence was applied in ensuring that the target animal was correctly identified. On Sept. 4, wildlife services continued operations, and on Sept. 9, they killed the uncollared yearling with one shot from a high caliber rifle after which CPW took possession of the carcass and confirmed it was a female.

Claim of wolf killing filly in southern Routt County debunked by CPW

On Monday, reports surfaced of a filly named Sweetpea who turned up dead and partially eaten on a ranch south of Hayden.  

The ranch owner, Kaitlynn Hayes Wood, told Steamboat Radio, “We think it’s a wolf. We’ve never seen a lion do that, and the way she was gutted, a healthy 2-year-old filly just doesn’t lay down and die like that. … A cat is not going to do that, let alone eat 250 pounds of meat in less than 24 hours.” 

A CPW agent went to the scene to investigate and the rancher on her Facebook page Tuesday wrote “oddly enough, within 24 hours, CPW contacted us this afternoon to inform us that they were denying our claim of a predator kill. Their reasoning? The cause of death was inconclusive. The only thing the officer could verify was that Sweetpea had been scavenged on. He couldn’t tell us what animal killed her, or even provide an explanation of what happened.”

In an email to The Colorado Sun, CPW spokesperson Luke Perkins said evidence found at the scene, the lack of any known wolves in the vicinity and confirmation that the closest collared wolves were approximately 17 miles away led to the determination that this was not a confirmed wolf depredation.