Colorado's first reintroduced wolf pack to be relocated after livestock depredations

Following months of attacks on livestock in and around Grand County, state wildlife officials said Wednesday that they “have begun an operation” to relocate the first wolf pack to be established as part of efforts that began last winter to reintroduce gray wolves to Colorado.

The animals being relocated include two mated adults and the three pups they had this spring. By reproducing in the wild, the wolves, which were captured in Oregon and released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials late last year, became the first established wolf pack to result from the state’s reintroduction program, and were named 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 press 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 state’s wolf reintroduction program fulfills a voter-approved 2020 ballot initiative to reintroduce the animals in Colorado in the name of restoring ecological balance. The measure, Proposition 114, was passed by a narrow 51% to 49% margin, and though it includes provisions to compensate livestock producers for depredations, it has been bitterly opposed by Colorado’s ranching industry.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/08/29/colorados-first-reintroduced-wolf-pack-to-be-relocated-after-livestock-depredations/