COLORADO, USA — Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is working to capture and relocate wolves from a pack that has killed livestock, the agency said Tuesday.
CPW said they are relocating wolves from the Copper Creek pack. That pack has previously been spotted in Grand County. CPW is not sharing the locations of the wolves that are being relocated.
The agency said they "will provide more information and details at the conclusion of the operation."
Earlier this month, three wolf pups from the Copper Creek pack were captured on video. Mike Usalavage was on a scenic drive with his son when he stumbled upon the pups playing in the middle of a dirt road. Biologists already knew the pack had given birth to one pup, but now know that number is at least three.
CPW has confirmed 15 wolf depredation incidents in Colorado this year, according to a document on the agency's website. It's unclear how many of those involved wolves from the Copper Creek pack.
“The decision to capture and relocate the Copper Creek pack was made with the careful consideration of multiple factors and feedback from many different stakeholders,” CPW Director Jeff Davis said in a news release. ”Our options in this unique case were very limited, and this action is by no means a precedent for how CPW will resolve wolf-livestock conflict moving forward. The ultimate goal of the operation is to relocate the pack to another location while we assess our best options for them to continue to contribute to the successful restoration of wolves in Colorado.”