Wolf Advocates Push Stricter Rules Before Wolves Can Be Killed For Livestock Attacks

By: Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun

Wolf advocates want to make it harder to legally kill reintroduced wolves and ensure ranchers first exhaust a detailed list of nonlethal hazing methods.

It’s the latest in a debate between animal protection groups and hunters that is coming to a head this spring in various venues. 

The Center for Biological Diversity says Colorado Parks and Wildlife regulations don’t do enough to protect animals. Hunting groups want the status quo. The fight has already played out at the Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting last week when the center introduced a petition to ban the sale of commercial fur in Colorado. They’re also backing a bill to ban the killing of beavers on Colorado public lands.  

The center said nonlethal coexistence measures involve “proven tools that protect rural livelihoods and support predictable wolf behavior,” but that CPW’s current rules aren’t clear enough about what reasonable conflict minimization measures are. 

They want tighter rules around the use of things like flags hung on fences to scare predators, flashing lights, livestock guardian dogs and range riders, as well proof these have been used — and the removal of dead animal carcasses away from herds — before CPW will issue a permit to kill a wolf confirmed to have killed livestock. 

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE COLORADO SUN