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For anyone who didn’t already know, ten wolves were released by the Colorado government in December. Reports from the Cowboy State Daily say that “Colorado Gov. Jared Polis was on site to personally open one of the crates and release the wolf inside.”
It has been all over the news for the last few weeks with headlines mainly focusing on worried Colorado ranchers and the excitement of those living in Denver.
But the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission (CPW) is trying to hide the fact that these wolves are cattle killers…
Cattle-Killing Wolves
All ten of these wolves come from packs in Oregon. At least five of the wolves came from packs already linked to livestock depredation.
Hey Google. Define “depredation.”
“Depredation: An act of attacking or plundering.” Or in this case, an act of a wolf killing livestock.
According to The Coloradoan:
- Two of the wolves came from the Five Points pack, blamed for two depredations in 2022.
- Two wolves from the Weneha pack had depredations from the Fall of 2023.
- A wolf from the Desolation pack had committed a depredation in September 2023.
While no one has outright admitted it, most experts agree that the remaining five wolves are also cattle killers.
Promises Made and Broken
A video from 9 News claims that originally, the CPW had promised they would not be bringing in these wolves. They assured that the wolves they would be relocating would not be from “depredation packs.”
More recently, as information has come out regarding the origins of these 10 wolves, the CPW seems to have changed their pitch.
“If a pack has infrequent depredation events, they should not be excluded as a source population,” a CPW rep told a rancher after complaints arose.
Cattle-Killing Is Easy To Learn For Predators
“Finding a certain number of wolves to relocate out of a pack that has not depredated is a difficult task for CPW,” Brian Anderson, a Colorado rancher, said. “The biggest mess-up came with bringing wolves to the state in the first place.”
Many experienced ranchers know that it doesn’t take long before any wolf pack learns to kill livestock.
“I’m not convinced that there is any wolf or any pack of wolves that isn’t capable of becoming acclimated to killing livestock,” Jim Magagna, a rancher, told the Cowboy State Daily.
READ MORE: House Moves to Remove Gray Wolf from Endangered Species List
Endangered Species In Colorado…
Ranchers in Northern Colorado had already been struggling with wolves in early 2023, according to Denver7 and The Colorado Sun. These ranchers had petitioned to the CPW for permission to defend their livestock from these packs.
Unfortunately for these ranchers, wolves are an endangered species in Colorado. The government protects them and no one is allowed to hunt or shoot these predators.
…But Not In Wyoming
Across the border in Wyoming, wolf killing is a different story. Shoot on sight is the policy there, which ranchers are grateful for now.
Colorado officials claim that the wolves will not travel the 60 miles from their current location, but Wyoming ranchers know better.
“Despite the availability of food sources, they’re going to travel,” Cattle rancher Dennis Sun said. “When wolves kick yearlings out of the group, they travel.”
So while Colorado ranchers have their hands tied, Wyoming ranchers fully intend to fight back.