Colorado's first pack of released wolves to be broken up

Colorado's only wolf pack, consisting of released wolves, is being removed from its location in Grand County because it repeatedly kills livestock.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife, with technical assistance from federal partners, has initiated an operation to capture and relocate wolves from the Copper Creek pack, the state wildlife agency announced in a news release Tuesday evening.

The pack consists of two parents of 10 wolves captured in Oregon and released in Colorado in late December 2023, and at least three wolf cubs the pair had this spring. “The decision to capture and relocate the Copper Creek pack was made after careful consideration of multiple factors and feedback from many different stakeholders,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis said in the release. “Our options in this unique case were very limited, and this action is by no means a precedent for how CPW will resolve wolf-livestock conflict in the future. The ultimate goal of the operation is to relocate the pack to another location while we evaluate our best options so they can continue to contribute to the successful recovery of wolves in Colorado.”

The opportunity to remove the wolves exists under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's federal 10(j) rule, which designates Colorado's released wolves as an experimental population.

According to area ranchers, the pack's parents are largely responsible for 16 confirmed wolf attacks on cattle and sheep near the pack's dens and meeting places in Grand County since April 2.

These ranchers have identified the pack parents as #2309, an adult gray male from the Weneha Pack of Oregon, and #2312, a yearling gray female with no pack name from Oregon.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has not identified the collar numbers of the pack's parents. The agency previously confirmed to The Coloradoan that collar number 2309 has been malfunctioning since March 27.

The Weneha Pack had confirmed cattle raids in Oregon in October and September 2023, just months before No. 2309 was captured in Oregon and released in Colorado.

Since 2309, no robbery has been confirmed in the Weneha pack in Oregon, and another member of the Weneha pack, No. 2307, an adult black male, has been relocated to Colorado.

Reid DeWalt, deputy director of Colorado Parks and Wildlife, told Colorado Parks and Wildlife commissioners at their meeting in Colorado Springs on August 23, “We have seen some other depredations by other wolves, but nothing on the scale that we saw in Middle Park.”

The Middle Park Stockgrowers Association, which represents Grand County ranchers, has repeatedly asked the state wildlife agency in recent months to remove at least the parents and, later, the pups from the pack. The most recent request from the association and other rancher groups was sent to Governor Jared Polis and Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis on August 15.

The agency repeatedly denied the request, citing the need to increase the state's wolf population in accordance with the state's wolf recovery plan, before finally giving in to pressure from ranchers on Tuesday.

This state's recovery plan calls for the release of 30 to 50 wolves over the next three to five years, with a goal of releasing at least 150 to 200 wolves.

“Colorado Parks and Wildlife is committed to fulfilling the will of Colorado voters to successfully restore the gray wolf population while meeting the needs of Colorado communities,” the release said. “As we have done throughout the implementation of the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, CPW is working with wildlife biologists, federal partners and producers to develop solutions that reduce the risk of further wolf attacks.”

Tim Ritschard, a Grand County rancher and president of the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association, said the association was pleased with the decision.

“If a wolf walks in and kills a cow or a calf, that's tolerable,” Ritschard told the Coloradoan on Tuesday night. “The problem, however, is that they set up camp and repeatedly eat cattle.”

“I'm glad the government stepped in and took action before a rancher or local Colorado Parks and Wildlife employee was forced to do so. Hopefully CPW can learn from this and prevent something similar from happening in the future.”

The Defenders of Wildlife organization strongly condemned the state's removal of the wolves in a press release Wednesday morning, blaming pressure from the ranching community and “refusal to accept the help and advice offered” for the pack's removal.

“This decision is politically motivated, not based on science-based management, and will significantly delay the progress of the reintroduction program,” said Mike Senatore, senior vice president of conservation programs at Defenders of Wildlife..the press release states. “All parties involved in the events that led to this deeply flawed decision should be held accountable for failing to effectively use proven coexistence tools. CPW and the region's ranchers must clearly demonstrate that they are responsible for developing and implementing plans to avoid such a scenario in the future.”

Ritschard asked what the state wildlife agency will do with the wolves. He said Grand County ranchers don't want Colorado Parks and Wildlife to relocate the wolves elsewhere because they believe it would only shift the pack's propensity to eat predators to other ranchers.

The state wildlife agency did not provide any information about what will happen to the wolf pack after it is captured.

“For the safety of the animals and staff, CPW will not disclose the location of the pack members or the operation,” the agency's press release said. “CPW will provide additional information and details after the operation is complete.”

News of the pack's removal comes days after the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission learned from Colorado Parks and Wildlife that the next scheduled release of the wolves would occur in the same area as the first releases in Grand and Summit counties.

DeWalt told commissioners at their August 23 meeting that the next release would be in the northern zone.

The northern zone roughly encompasses Glenwood Springs to the west, Kremmling to the north, Vail to the east, and Aspen to the south. The area includes Interstate 70, which runs through the middle.

But first, Colorado Parks and Wildlife must secure wolves for the next release, which is scheduled for late this year or early next year. This has proven difficult so far.

That acquisition became even more difficult after the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington informed Colorado Parks and Wildlife in a letter in June that they were revoking an earlier agreement to send 15 wolves to Colorado later this year and in early 2025.

Colorado's first pack of released wolves to be broken up

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