Despite two new wolf attacks on cows in Colorado’s North Park this spring, state officials can no longer track the pack of eight wolves, leading to speculation that some might have been killed or that a new litter has been born.
The wolves live on the outskirts of Walden, east of Steamboat Springs. The elder female wandered into the area from Wyoming in 2019 and a male joined her early last year. The pair mated and six pups followed.
Since then the pack has been feeding on local livestock and wildlife in the area. To date they’ve killed at least five cows and two dogs, sparking widespread concern in Jackson County, where ranchers have complained that they don’t have the necessary tools to fend off the predators.
But in recent weeks the three tracking collars fitted to wolves in the Walden pack stopped working, confirmed Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Travis Duncan. Department officials saw seven of them in mid-June, though.
So far, the department “has not confirmed any deaths in the pack,” Duncan said. “We continue to monitor the animals, following on reports from the public and visiting areas where they have been in the past.”
At the moment, state officials aren’t sure where the wolves are or whether anything might have happened to one, or several, of them.
A February ruling from a California judge restored federal protections for the wolves, an endangered species. And anyone who harms or kills a wolf could not only face fines but also a prison sentence.
News about the out-of-commission tracking collars raised red flags for ranchers and environmental activists but for different reasons.
Michael Robinson, a wolf expert with the Center for Biological Diversity, said he’s concerned one, or several, of the wolves have been killed. Tracking collars do fail occasionally, he said, but it’s rare that three would go down in such a short time frame.
Don Gittleson, who has already lost several of his high-altitude angus cows to the wolves, said the disappearance could mean the pack has a new litter of pups and the group is laying low.
But it’s too early to say either way, Gittleson said. Some folks in the area have recently spotted wolves but nobody’s seen them all at once recently, he said.
The eldest female evaded detection for months on end before, Gittleson said. They’re a clever species and state officials are poorly suited to track them without the collars, he said.
At the very least, there have been wolf attacks in the area recently, Gittleson said. He lost a calf to the wolves in late May — confirmed as a wolf attack by CPW officials — and as of Thursday, another calf was missing.
Wolves injured another cow on a different Jackson County ranch in mid-March, according to CPW spokeswoman Rebecca Ferrell. State officials found wolf tracks and bite marks matching those of a wolf. The cow’s injuries were so severe that the officials decided to euthanize it.
In recent weeks Gittleson said state officials have been flying overhead trying to locate the wolves, similarly environmental groups traveled to the area to search.
Duncan said so far the department has not seen evidence that the pack created a den (which could indicate the presence of a new litter) and staff is “fairly confident that there was no denning” this spring.
Assuming the wolves are alive, though, all eyes are on North Park to see how Colorado handles the pack and residents’ concerns. A broader effort is underway to reintroduce even more gray wolves to the state’s Western Slope by the end of next year.
The newly reinstated federal protections, in conjunction with Colorado’s existing laws, limit how ranchers and other residents can fend off the wolves. Anything that might injure or kill them is off-limits unless a person’s life is directly in danger.
Gittleson said trying to scare off the wolves or block them from his livestock haven’t worked well and he’s previously called for ranchers to be afforded a lethal option under certain circumstances.
Robinson and many others in favor of the gray wolf reintroduction have spoken out vehemently against measures that might harm or kill wolves, noting they would defeat the purpose of reintroducing the species.
Despite the concerns and the lost livestock, gray wolves are native to Colorado and necessary for a healthy environment, Robinson said.
But if state officials don’t take more decisive action they can expect more livestock to die as more wolves are reintroduced to the Western Slope, Robinson said. The management plan – currently in the works and expected to be finished by May 2023 – should require ranchers to clear out all dead livestock to prevent the wolves from scavenging and becoming dependent on the food source. It should also require ranchers to employ human guards near at-risk livestock, he said.
Gittleson has said that his small ranch, with fewer than 180 cows, can’t afford to hire around-the-clock guards, but Robinson said perhaps the state could help offset the cost.
Currently, Ferrell said state officials have no plans to put new collars on the wolves. Tracking and capturing them with helicopters can be challenging and potentially hazardous to the animals, she said. Plus, because federal protections are once more in place, state officials would have to coordinate with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the work, Ferrell said.
Duncan noted that when state officials begin reintroducing wolves to the Western Slope not all of them will be outfitted with tracking collars.
