DENVER — Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) recently captured a wolf from Grand County it documented to have killed livestock and may release the wolf back into the wild, despite a management plan stating problem wolves will not be moved elsewhere.
The wolf in question is the female adult of the Copper Creek pack. That pack also included an adult male, which died soon after capture, and four pups, which are not known to have been involved in any livestock depredations. The mother and pups are in captivity as CPW monitors their health.
CPW has never publicly identified the individual wolves responsible for each livestock killing. 9NEWS Investigates obtained a spreadsheet that CPW created that identifies the wolves that have killed livestock.
The spreadsheet goes only through June 9. A CPW spokesperson said the spreadsheet was created for an advisory group, and it has not been maintained.
Since that date, CPW has reported six more instances of wolves killing livestock with a total of 13 dead sheep and cows. CPW reports wolves have killed at least 24 cows and sheep so far this year, with 16 of those kills taking place in Grand County.
CPW does not name wolves. It identifies them by number. Odd numbers indicate the wolf is a male, and even numbers mean the wolf is a female.
Wolf 2309
On April 2, CPW says, male wolf 2309 wolf and female wolf 2312 killed a calf. Those two wolves are the adults in the Copper Creek pack.
The sheet states that 2309 killed three cows, by itself, on April 17 and a cow on April 18, and may have been involved in killing two more cows on April 28 and May 11.
Since June 9, CPW confirmed wolves killing at least nine sheep in Grand County.
When CPW captured the pack earlier this month, CPW Director Jeff Davis said 2309 was found with a serious leg injury and he later died. Had he survived, Davis said, 2309 would never have returned to the wild.
"The plan for the male wolf was permanent captivity," Davis said during a news conference after the pack was captured.
Wolf 2312
The spreadsheet states the female wolf 2312, which was 2309's partner, killed a cow with him on April 2. It also says she may have killed livestock on April 28 and May 11.
Right now, CPW has 2312 captive in an undisclosed location. Her future remains unsettled.
“We’ll continue to see if releasing the female is viable," Reid DeWalt, assistant CPW director, told a roundtable last week. "We have a lot of work to do with producer groups and elected, local elected officials, and things like that. I think we learned a lot of lessons from the first release on that communication, but we’re looking at a place that‘s remote, high ungulate populations, somewhere where it will thrive and not be too close to livestock immediately, or anything like that."
Colorado's wolf management plan
CPW's wolf management plan states wolves that have killed livestock won't be moved elsewhere because that would be moving the problem.
"The translocation of depredating wolves to a different part of the state will not be considered, as this is viewed as translocating the problem along with the wolves," the plan states.
Despite CPW's suspicion that 2312 killed livestock at least three times, a spokesperson told 9NEWS she could still be released again.
"The female would be considered for release for the survival of the pups," the spokesperson said. "If it is determined that the pups can thrive, CPW plans to release them when they are adult-sized and able to hunt on their own or together in a pack. If CPW decides to re-release the adult female, she will be closely monitored and quick action will be taken if there are any confirmed depredations attributable to her."
Wildlife activists have called on CPW to release all of the animals as soon as the pups are bigger.
State Rep. Matt Soper, who represents House District 54 in Mesa and Delta counties, disagreed with that.
"They absolutely should not release the wolves back into the wild," Soper said. "They were captured by CPW because of that history, then to release them with that history would actually violate the plan."
CPW did not answer a question about how releasing 2312 would adhere to the plan.
Wolf 2307
The spreadsheet also says wolf 2307 killed livestock in Jackson County on April 7 and on May 25.
CPW reported 2307 died last week in Grand County.
Wenaha pack
Wolves 2309 and 2307 came from Oregon's Wenaha pack.
The Wenaha pack killed a cow on Oct. 25, 2023, and a calf on Sept. 18, 2023, according to the Oregon Department of Fish Wildlife.
Colorado captured 2309 and 2307 from Oregon in December 2023. Oregon has not reported the Wenaha pack killing any livestock since.