New wolf activity map released as ranchers report Memorial Day weekend livestock attacks

Yahoo

6 days ago

DENVER (KDVR) — A new wolf activity map from Colorado Parks and Wildlife shows how far the state's reintroduced wolves are ranging—while ranchers say the Memorial Day weekend brought another wave of attacks on livestock in Pitkin County.
CPW confirms multiple new depredations are under investigation, though no final determinations have been made. Still, members of the cattle industry say the damage—and the breakdown in trust—is already done.
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'We're still behind the ball on all this, and quite frankly it was just a matter of time that this was going to happen at this point,' said Tim Ritschard, president of the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association.
According to Ritschard, the latest incidents include several injured animals and at least two calves killed in what he described as a bold, midday attack inside a calving field.
'Some of this happened in the middle of the day… and so that's like they got used to humans… and that's not— to me that's not natural.'
Multiple calves dead, injured by wolves over Memorial Day: Colorado Cattlemen's Association
Ritschard believes the culprits are likely members of the Copper Creek pack, which was relocated to Pitkin County in January. That same pack was previously removed following costly attacks in Middle Park.
'We highly recommended to CPW that they not release that pack again because they were known depredators, and now we are dealing with this.'
'CPW came out and decided they needed to remove the pack—that's when they went in, removed the female, the male, and then four of the five pups… And obviously in January, they released them again.'
A CPW spokesperson said the agency is actively investigating, but declined to comment until findings are complete.
Meanwhile, ranchers say the pace of the reintroduction program is outpacing protections on the ground—like range rider programs meant to mitigate risk.
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'It takes time to learn this country. It takes time to understand this. And so those people just started, they might not know anything, and from what I've been told, the one range rider that was down there was in an area with no cattle.'
The Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, a key group backing the reintroduction plan, says the system is working—and called the reintroduction effort a 'success.' They warn calls for lethal removal are premature and say more information is needed about what mitigation strategies were used in Pitkin County.
The group points to a statewide compensation fund for ranchers, and ongoing use of non-lethal tools like hazing, as key parts of the coexistence effort.
CPW's May wolf activity map shows the collared wolves continue to range broadly, and some ranchers fear that nowhere is safe from conflict.
'They should know what happened last year and obviously they didn't learn from their mistakes. But you know—we're dealing with the same thing again, just in a different area. You took a problem wolf from one area and put it in another area.'
The Colorado Cattlemen's Association says early promises made during the reintroduction process were broken—and communication with the ranching community is suffering.
As for whether CPW would consider pausing or scaling back the reintroduction effort, a spokesperson told FOX31 the agency remains committed to continuing the program—and minimizing its impact on ranchers.
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