Wolf kills a calf in Colorado, the first confirmed kill after the predator’s reintroduction
DENVER — A wolf has killed a calf in Colorado, wildlife officials said Wednesday, confirming the first livestock kill after 10 of the predators were controversially reintroduced in December, to the dismay of the state’s rural residents.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed after an investigation that the wounds of the calf killed Tuesday and nearby wolf tracks were consistent with a wolf kill, which they called a “depredation.”
“The field investigation found multiple tooth rake marks on the calf’s hindquarters and neck, and hemorrhages under the skin, consistent with wolf depredation,” Jeromy Huntington, one of the agency’s wildlife managers, said in a statement.
The agency did not say how many wolves were involved, or whether it was among the recently released animals. In recent years, a handful of wolves have wandered from Wyoming and killed livestock.
The calf’s owner can be compensated by the state for the animal’s market value, up to a maximum of $15,000. Yet farmers argue it’s just not enough.
“The incident, which resulted in the loss of livestock, underscores the ongoing challenges ranchers face in managing conflict between livestock and wildlife,” Tatum Swink, spokesperson for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, said in a statement.
The reintroduction of wolves in Colorado, which narrowly won the 2020 election, sent political shockwaves across the state.
Ranchers and farmers labeled the proposal “stem biology,” arguing that the animals would invade their farms and the industry as a whole. Even nearby Republican states, including Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, refused to supply wolves to Colorado, which eventually sourced them from Oregon.
Proponents argued that the apex predators would restore an ecological balance to the area. Wolves were largely hunted out of the state in the 1940s.
Gray wolves killed about 800 domestic animals in 10 states, including Colorado, in 2022, according to an earlier Associated Press review of depredation data from state and federal agencies.
While the losses may affect individual ranchers, the analysis says they affect a fraction of the industry as a whole, only about 0.002% of herds in the affected states.
In Colorado, ten wolves were released in December at unknown locations in the Rocky Mountains. After leaving their cages after long plane flights, the first five disappeared into the forest as Governor Jared Polis, conservationists, biologists and journalists looked on. Conservationists expect to release thirty to fifty wolves in the coming years.
Strategies to deter wolves from livestock include tying streamers or flashing lights to fences to make the predators wary of entering farms. Wolves can eventually get used to the strategies, so they can only be used in short periods of time and are not airtight.
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Bedayn is a staff member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.