Potential Livestock Killers Tracked in Neighboring Counties
Trevor Phipps
Ever since wolves have entered Colorado due to a successful ballot measure that was narrowly approved statewide, controversy has ignited, and tensions have escalated between state wildlife officials and area ranchers and property owners.
Since the beginning of the wolf reintroduction initiative, ranchers have reported numerous wolf attacks on livestock. This has stirred a massive effort to remove or detain a number of wolves. For the most part, Teller County has stayed out of the controversy mostly due to the fact that the wild animals were initially released in other parts of the state.
But most locals knew that it was only a matter of time before wolves made it to the Ute Pass region, and local ranchers are once again placed on high alert. In the most recent map released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife Division (CPW), wolves had made their way back east into Park County (Teller’s neighbor to the west).
Last February, CPW announced that a wolf was tracked travelling into the western and southern part of Teller County sometime between January 21 and February 25. Officials said that it was a lone female looking for a mate. By the time the next map came out in late March, CPW stated that the lone female wolf had headed back west and was no longer in the vicinity of the Pikes Peak region.
Still, this incident raised the ire of some property owners and area ranchers, who questioned the stance taken by CPW over the issue. CPW officials have defended the wolf reintroduction program, saying it is good for the wildlife ecosystem. But the compensation cost for assisting impacted ranchers is staggering.
Every month, CPW releases a map on where the collared wolves inside the state have travelled. CPW tracks the wolves by using a GPS collar that sends them information about every four hours depending on if the wolves are somewhere the collar has service and can send information.
Therefore, the data released by CPW every month does not give specific locations nor list which wolves travelled to the various locations. Moreover, the map only shows the watersheds that wolves travelled into at one point which are relatively broad geographical locations.
The recent map, though, proves that the wolves have migrated more east and south after travelling mostly north and west after being released in Grand, Summit and Pitkin Counties over the last two years. And, between May 27 and June 24, the wolves moved closer to the Denver metro (the state’s most populated region) than they had before.
Whereas, the wild wolves still have a strong presence in the northern and western Colorado counties, such as Jackson, Routt, Grand, Summit, Eagle, Lake and Pitkin Counties, the wolves have now have travelled into previously unchartered territory. The map shows the wolves migrated east into counties that house Front Range cities, such as Larimer, Gilpin, Boulder, Clear Creek, Jefferson and even Denver ounties.
Although it’s hard to tell exactly how far into the Denver metro the wolves have travelled, Fox 31 in Denver states that the Bear Creek watershed where the wolves were tracked “originates in Clear Creek County before draining past Red Rocks Park, through Bear Lake Park and into Bear Creek Park in Denver County, before ending at the Broken Tree Golf Course, where it drains into the South Platte River.”
To the south, wolves have once again been tracked in western, northern and southern Park County, including a watershed that encompasses the towns of Fairplay and Hartsel. Wolves have also been tracked in Chaffee County, close to the border with Fremont County
Teller County Bracing for Wolf Attacks
The last time wolves entered Teller County, CPW contacted county officials and major landowners in the region to inform them about the situation. CPW then attempted to educate ranchers in the area about ways to deter wolves from depredating livestock on their property.
These efforts have received a cold response, and sparked a lively county commissioners forum on the issue earlier this year.
Ever since wolves were released in Colorado in December 2023, there have been 17 confirmed livestock depredations at the claws of wild wolves. And many ranchers firmly believe that the number of livestock vs. wolf incidents is actually much higher than what has been reported.
In fact, one wolf pack in particular has been the source of several depredations to the point where CPW has taken multiple steps to change the pack’s behavior. Last September, CPW announced that they had removed the “Copper Creek” pack consisting of an adult female, an adult male and four pups (one pup is believed to have avoided capture)
After the wolves were captured the adult male died from what authorities believe was injuries suffered from a gunshot wound. The other members of the wolf pack were held in custody before being re-released last January with several other wolves that were relocated from Canada.
But the problems with the pack didn’t change. Between May 17 and May 25, four livestock depredations were reported in Pitkin County that were connected to the Copper Creek Pack.
On May 29, CPW said they lethally removed the yearling wolf 2405 from the Copper Creek pack in order to deter the activity after determining that the male yearling was solely responsible for the attacks. Even though no more depredations have been reported since the one wolf was lethally removed, ranchers have still urged CPW to remove or relocate the pack once again.
The CPW commission held a special meeting on July 7, to discuss the status and the potential fate of the Copper Creek pack. But for now, ranchers in Southern Colorado are keeping their eyes peeled on the horizon in hopes that the apex predators won’t return to the Pikes Peak region and harm livestock in the area. Wolves are an endangered species, so it is illegal to shoot this wild animal unless a person’s life is endangered.
