Posted on 04/19/2024 6:35:44 AM PDT by george76
On April 17 and 18, Colorado Parks and Wildlife received reports of livestock depredation by wolves in Grand County. The agency confirmed that four cattle were killed...
Four yearling cattle have been killed by a wolf or wolves in Grand County. Colorado Parks and Wildlife believes the depredation occurred between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
In an email to Sky-Hi News, Parks and Wildlife officials stated that they responded to a possible livestock depredation incident on Wednesday morning and then again on Thursday morning. Both incidents occurred on the same property.
On Wednesday, the agency investigated three yearling cattle that had been killed. Wildlife officers and a biologist conducted the field investigation “and found injuries consistent with wolf depredation,” the agency stated.
The following morning, the agency once again received a report of a livestock depredation, this time on a yearling. A wildlife officer responded and conducted an investigation. According to the agency, they found signs consistent with wolf depredation, including hemorrhaging and partially consumed hindquarters.
Although the earliest kill likely occurred Monday, “a storm brought a foot of snow to the area covering up the carcasses and delaying their discovery until Wednesday,” the agency stated.
The first livestock depredation event since wolves were reintroduced occurred in Grand County on April 2. A second incident happened in Jackson County on April 7.
The wolf or wolves that were in the area at the time of the depredation were part of the 10 wolves that were reintroduced to Colorado in December 2023, the agency stated.
According Grand County Commissioner Merrit Linke, a wolf or wolves also recently injured a calf in Jackson County. The calf lived, and Linke said the rancher is doctoring the calf in the hope that it will survive. Parks and Wildlife officials stated that the incident occurred April 13 and that wildlife officers who responded to the scene confirmed the depredation.
Parks and Wildlife does not release the locations of wolves to the public. Linke told Sky-Hi News that he understands the varied reasons that Parks and Wildlife cannot release specific locations of wolves. He added that livestock producers can uncover the locations of wolves, based on tools such as game cameras, but don’t share this information.
“They know,” Linke said. “They’re still trying to be respectful of the law and cooperate.”
Middle Park Stockgrowers Association issues request to Parks and Wildlife..
The Middle Park Stockgrowers Association believes that two wolves have been responsible for killing five head of livestock this April in Grand County, in three separate events.
“This is chronic depredation,” association officials wrote in a statement after the most recent four depredations.
Livestock producers and Western Slope lawmakers have asked the agency to clearly define the term “chronic depredation.” When a wolf falls into that category, Parks and Wildlife or a producer is allowed to intervene, including using lethal measures, according to a federal rule. That provision, granted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in November, allows the state or ranchers to kill wolves, which are normally protected under the Endangered Species Act.
In a statement, the Stockgrowers Association requested that Parks and Wildlife and U.S. Fish and Wildlife lethally remove what they’re calling the two chronically depredating wolves.
In a meeting with livestock producers in Kremmling on April 9, Parks and Wildlife stated that the definition of “chronic depredation” is still being worked on.
The association stated that local parks and wildlife officers have been very cooperative and responsive with ranchers as they work to protect their herds.
“The relationship between producers and CPW is critically important as we move forward in this process,” association officials stated. “We ask that CPW leadership demonstrate the same level of cooperation we have experienced at the local level and address our request as soon as possible.”
The stockgrowers described that out of the first three cattle killed, “one was partially consumed, another had severe wounds to its hind quarters, and one was killed with minimal visible damage.” The fourth yearling that was killed was dismembered with the entire hind quarter missing.
“There have been five confirmed depredations in Grand County, but our producers, now more familiar with signs of wolf depredations, believe they have experienced multiple additional attacks and kills,” the Stockgrowers Association added.
About Parks and Wildlife’s wolf management plan..
The producers who lost the livestock will be entitled to the fair market value of the animals if a claim is submitted, as laid out in the management’s plan compensation program. Veterinary bills are also eligible for reimbursement.
The agency stated it is working with the Colorado Department of Agriculture to build “the capacity to anticipate and prepare for predator livestock incidents.” The Colorado Department of Agriculture and Parks and Wildlife are finalizing a range rider plan to assist producers in deterring wolf conflicts, along with other tools to help ranchers with non-lethal deterrence.
Range riders are boots-on-the-ground individuals who peruse the landscape on horseback to proactively manage livestock and search for signs of predators. According to Parks and Wildlife, communication between its agency, the Department of Agriculture and producers “is a top priority during calving season.”
Colorado Ping ( Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
Simple solution: State pays ranchers double market value for livestock killed by the State’s dear wolves.
Wouldn’t it have been easier just to not introduce wolves in the first place? Smh
If you want to stop the War on Food Producers, don't kill the wolves - capture them, starve them a while, and release them in the Democratic Cloakroom in Washington.
Shoot, shovel and shut up.
Being eaten by a wolf seems to be such a humane way to die.
Re-wilding goal is to destroy family farmers, ranchers, outfitters, rural motels and restaurants.
I am glad we have wolves. I like rib-eyes, too, medium rare. I like your solution Uncle Miltie.
Wolves kill for fun / note the many not eaten cows.
Not only the cows, sheep, dogs, lamas, and .. killed.
Cows are not eating when being harassed by wolf packs, they miscarriage their babies, and waste the farmer / ranchers time = thus money.
The governor, his husband, and the urban elite hate rural working families .. of the state’s 64 counties, just 13 supported wolves dumped on designated lands west of the Continental Divide..
I brought down the animal lovers on my head on another web page. Their screeching told me they were City Slickers and knew nothing about farm life.
An ancient poem...The peasant’s lament.
“I raise sheep, the wolves kill them.
When I defend my sheep I am arrested,
Because a GREAT MAN who is above raising sheep,
Would be in need of wolves.”
What really got them upset was when I said...”S.S.S! And if that does not work, bring back Compound-1080!”
When I hear about wanting the wolves back I am reminded of the old story The Interlopers by Saki.
https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/the-interlopers
City leftists only know that food comes from a box or a can at a store... no concept of food production nor transportation .
Former mayor of NYC - said faming is easy and more.
Perhaps some Colorado ranchers could trap a few of these wolves and release them in Boulder, Fort Collins, or central Denver.
No, wolves do not kill for fun.
That’s right. They can be full and then go out and kill for sport.
“No, wolves do not kill for fun”.
You are wrong. They can have full bellies and then go out and kill for sport.
I’m not going to go back and forth with you on this.
Do some research.
I’ve done the research. And you’re incorrect, and one of a handful of people that can discern that wolves kill for “fun”.
We’ll not agree on this.
But I will keep posting about wolves food caching, leaving kills if humans are detected in the area, etc to inform.
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