For Immediate Release

Contact: Delaney Rudy, Western Watersheds Project, 970-648-4241, delaney@westernwatersheds.org

August 28, 2024

Colorado’s only Wolf Pack to be Captured, Relocated after Coexistence Failure from Ranchers

DENVER — Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced Tuesday evening that they are trapping and removing the Copper Creek Wolf Pack from Grand County. The pack, which includes at least three puppies, represents the first successful wolf reproduction from reintroduced wolves in the state. This removal operation is in response to ongoing livestock depredations resulting from the inadequate implementation of proactive, nonlethal coexistence techniques by the livestock operators.

“We commend CPW for taking affirmative steps to keep these wolves alive and to bolster the success of the wolf reintroduction, but CPW must go further and establish robust requirements for nonlethal coexistence to prevent this kind of conflict in the future,” said Delaney Rudy, Colorado Director of Western Watersheds Project. “Coloradans want wolves reintroduced and expect more cooperation from stockgrowers than these wolves apparently received.” 

The Middle Park Stockgrowers had sought a lethal permit to kill the wolves, which was denied by CPW earlier this month. CPW had determined that improper carcass management – including improper management of open carcass disposal pits – and incomplete use of nonlethal coexistence techniques contributed to the depredations. A recent article about the wolf conflicts described sheep carcasses rotting in their fields. CPW denied the request for a lethal take permit because the ranch had failed to meet three of the four requirements for the permit, including not properly disposing of attractant carcasses. This mismanagement made livestock operations the easiest source of food for the young wolf family, and effectively trained them to seek out domestic livestock instead of their natural prey. 

Over $300,000 has been raised to support the implementation of these tools, so that the burden of cost does not fall on the ranchers. The CPW Commission should establish a requirement for proactive, properly implemented, and site-specific coexistence techniques for livestock loss compensation and any issuance of lethal take permits. The standards for carcass management on ranches must be concretely defined, and compliance must be required.

Just last week, the public had our first chance to view the wild wolf pups playing at a rendezvous site in a widely circulated video. 

“The healthy pups marked a tremendous milestone in the success of the wolf reintroduction in Colorado,” said Rudy. “It is disappointing that those wolves may now be deprived of the chance to live wild lives on the natural landscape in Colorado, and their territory is deprived of the ecological benefits of this essential native predator.”

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