By Heather Willard | Fox31
DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff are in the field to kill a member of the Copper Creek gray wolf pack after repeated livestock deaths.
The action comes nearly two months after CPW killed a gray wolf in Pitkin County connected to the same pack.
CPW told FOX31 on Tuesday that its staff is in the field in Pitkin County, “undertaking additional lethal control efforts” that align with the agency’s and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s rules on chronic depredation and lethal removal of depredating wolves. Depredations, in this case, refer to a wolf stealing or killing a rancher’s product or livestock.
The news comes on the heels of a calf depredation discovered on July 18. CPW stated that the calf appeared to have been injured by wolves previously before succumbing to its injuries. The exact date of the calf’s death is unknown, CPW said, because of the age of the wounds.
CPW said earlier this month that the Pitkin County livestock producers have been working “constructively” with CPW wildlife damage specialists to use all available non-lethal conflict mitigation efforts, such as range riders and fladry.
“Staff have been in the area since Sunday, July 20, attempting to locate the wolves,” CPW told FOX31 on Tuesday. “The terrain is challenging at best, and staff have not been able to get close to the wolves after multiple attempts. Staff will continue to monitor locations and attempt to intervene if possible.”
The agency said that it will be taking action toward a wolf it is “confident was involved in depredation,” and says the lethal removal is intended to change pack behavior by discouraging the continued targeting of livestock as a prey base. The wolf that staff is looking at taking would also leave the pack with the best chance of reproductive success in the future.
In late 2024, the Copper Creek Pack was removed from the wild after repeated depredations in Grand County. In January, CPW reintroduced the pack to Colorado despite fears from ranchers that the pack would continue to prey on livestock.
Earlier this month, CPW held a special meeting to discuss the Copper Creek Pack, with the question of lethal removal looming over the meeting.
No decisions were made at the July 7 meeting. Members of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission considered statements from ranchers and wildlife proponents at the meeting and said that the wolf’s death may have changed behavior, but it’s unclear if the new depredations have changed that perspective.
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