Officials say cow on ranch killed by uncollared wolf

By Christa Swanson

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    JACKSON COUNTY, Colorado (KCNC) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife said a depredation incident is under investigation after an uncollared wolf killed a cow on a ranch in Jackson County last week.

Authorities said the cow was attacked by an unknown wolf on Feb. 5. The odd part, they said, is there has been no collar activity in the area. CPW said they believe the depredation was committed by an uncollared wolf in the North Park area that was not part of Colorado reintroduction efforts.

“CPW has functioning GPS collars on all reintroduced wolves and two known wolves from a breeding pair that moved into the state from Wyoming in 2021. The uncollared fifth pup from the former Copper Creek Pack was confirmed to be in another location of the state at the time,” they explained.

The agency said they don’t believe the wolf sighted in northwest Moffat County was involved in the depredation. Officials said that, at the moment, the origin of the animal is unknown.

A female Gray Wolf recently entered the state’s southeast region and has been spotted in Park, Teller, and Fremont counties.

“CPW relies on sightings from the public to let us know if other wolves are being seen on the landscape that have moved in from other states. This wolf movement is normal and expected,” said the CPW.

Officials said as the Colorado wolf population increases they will continue to monitor their territories so they can collaborate with ranchers to minimize conflict and protect livestock. They said their goal is to maintain at least two active collars per pack.

“When it is known, CPW field staff inform local area producers when wolves are spending time in an area and work to establish site assessments to identify and deploy deterrence measures. Wolves without collars make this challenging, and relying on signs (scat, prints, etc.) becomes more important,” they explained.

CPW said the livestock producer can submit a claim and may be eligible for the fair market value of the livestock under its Gray Wolf Compensation and Conflict Management Program.

Their Collared Gray Wolf Activity Map offers information on where wolved have been over the last 30 days and is updated monthly.

Colorado ranchers have been frustrated over the recent new release of Gray Wolves this year. In response, CPW recently hired nine range riders in the northwest region of Colorado to help protect livestock from wolf attacks.

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