State Officials Euthanize Pack Member Linked to Massive Livestock Killings
Trevor Phipps
During the past few months, Colorado’s wild wolves appeared to be keeping a low profile, with reduced movement among collared animals.
According to officials from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Division (CPW), the wolves were staying put because they were denning. This is typical activity during the late spring season.
The wolves stayed out of areas close to the Front Range, including Teller County. However, now that summer is here, the latest data from CPW shows collared wolves travelling through Teller County once again. But on the upside, no reported incidents have been reported, involving wolf-related attacks on livestock.
The latest collared wolf activity map shows them on the move all around the state. After staying in the north and western parts of the state between late April and late March, the wolves have spread across Colorado. And this time, they have been tracked by officials venturing into unchartered territory.
The latest wolf activity map released by CPW tracked wolves between May 26 and June 23, leaving the north and western parts of the state. At least some of the wolves headed down south with the wild canines getting tracked as far south as the New Mexico border in multiple spots.
In addition, officials tracked wolves east of Interstate 25 for the first time since they began roaming the state in December 2023 as part of the voter-approved wolf reintroduction initiative. The map indicates their movement began near western Park County and eastern Chaffee County, then continued in a straight line toward the southwest.
The wolves traversed across Park County and then into Fremont County. This is when they may have crossed in the southern part of Teller County. The watersheds where wolf activity was tracked seemed to then follow Highway 50 into Pueblo.
But once the wolves entered Pueblo County, they appeared to keep heading east. In fact, the wolf activity map shows them heading into Crowley and Otero Counties. They entered a watershed that sits close to the city of La Junta.
It may now be difficult to determine how many wolves are actively roaming parts of Colorado. CPW reported that several collared wolves showed signs of denning last spring, raising questions about how many pups may have been born.
CPW tracks the wolves that are collared, which are mostly the wild animals that were relocated to Colorado from other states. Those born in Colorado would not have collars.
As a result, the collared wolves could be travelling in packs with their un-collared offspring.
Wild Wolves Make Their Grand Return to Teller County
This isn’t the first time wolves have been seen crossing Teller County borders, but the incidents have been rare for the past two and a half years. On one occasion, a wolf was reported in an area near the Florissant Fossil Beds located in western Teller. A second time, a wolf or wolves were spotted crossing through the northern part of the county and briefly entering the property of Teller County Commissioner Bob Campbell.
On both occasions, county and state officials said that the wolf visits to Teller County were brief and that they were just passing through. Based on the activity of the wolves and the time of year, county officials said that the visits most likely came from sole female wolves that were covering a lot of ground in their search for a mate
So far, every time a wolf has been tracked entering the county, county officials and local major landowners get notified. To date, there hasn’t been any reports of wolves encountering livestock in the region. For the most part, they were simply passing through a bigger grand voyage across Colorado.
CPW Officials Kill Wolf Responsible for Slaughtering at Least 22 Sheep
In other news, it was reported last month that the state’s wolf population has seen yet another casualty. But this time, CPW officials were responsible for the latest wolf’s death.
On June 12, CPW agents reported that they killed a Colorado-born wolf that was a member of the infamous Copper Creek pack in Routt County. CPW originally attempted to locate and capture the Copper Creek Pack since they said this group was responsible for around 60 percent of all livestock depredations caused by the animals in Colorado.
But when state officials successfully captured the Copper Creek Pack’s patriarch, matriarch and four pups, they were unable to capture a fifth pup. The pack’s patriarch died shortly after getting captured due to injuries suffered from a previous gunshot wound. The rest of the pack was then re-released months later in a different area of the state.
However, after the elusive pup escaped captivity, he became responsible for at least 10 different livestock depredation incidents involving at least 22 sheep. CPW agents tracked the wolf and shot it in Rio Blanco County. But after searching for the wolf for several days, officials gave up their search efforts.
According to an article published by the Colorado Sun, the wolf started to gain quite a fan base. Several people gave the male wolf names like “Lucky,” “Freedom,” and “Elijah.” One woman even made a ballet about him titled, “Freedom, the Story of an Orphaned Wolf.”
