Posted on 12/21/2021 4:05:08 PM PST by george76
A confirmed wolf kill was discovered near Walden, Colo., the home of one of Colorado’s wolf packs. An approximately 500 pound purebred replacement heifer was found dead after being attacked and eaten by this pack of wolves. This is the first confirmed wolf kill of livestock in Colorado in over 70 years.
In early 2021, Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed the existence of this pack in north central Colorado; however, individual wolves have been sited in the area previous to the pack confirmation. Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials are working closely with the livestock producer to learn as much from this situation as possible as a mechanism to better inform Colorado’s current Wolf Restoration and Management Plan.
“On behalf of the livestock producer, who is a member of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, as well as Colorado Parks and Wildlife, we ask that the public refrain from disturbing the area and individuals associated with this wolf attack,” said Steve Wooten, CCA president.
While unfortunate, this wolf kill further brings to light issues that must be addressed by the Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, specifically:
Lethal and non-lethal methods, including hazing, of wolves for conflict minimization.
A guaranteed funding source that allows Colorado Parks and Wildlife to fairly provide the needed tools for prevention and compensation from wolf impacts.
Impacts from wolves go beyond livestock death and injury, to include more far-reaching impacts on livestock performance, such as loss of pregnancy, weight loss, imbalanced range usage, etc.
A strongly encourages the members of the Wolf Restoration and Management Plan working groups and the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to consider this wolf attack and the widespread impacts as a sentinel example of how livestock can be impacted by wolf introduction.
The other side of it is humans can be stupid. For example, putting food out for a predator's prey or the predators themselves is just plain dumb. The predators lose their fear of humans because of it. So, lets scare the crap out of the predators, wolves etc. and make them terrified of humans... by whatever means. That may offer some measure of protection. However, when an animal is hungry and even starving, all bets are off.
I just happened to be looking out the window when a coyote trotted across the property last year. Not too long before the cat disappeared.
You are wrong. I know fourth generation ranchers who are being put out of business by this ill-conceived and mismanaged program. Give me one example of a “subsidized” rancher. You can’t. They pay to graze on these lands and their water tanks are about the only thing keeping some endangered species alive during drought. You have no clue what you are talking about.
Exactly.
“I wonder how long you would last trying to run a ranch.”
Nailed it.
Ranchers are rarely compensated for losses. When cattle graze thousands of acres they often find the carcass long after the death, when other predators have also feasted on it, so it is impossible to trace it to the wolf kill. The ranchers I know have not been reimbursed for on tenth of their losses.
Good point. With wolf packs near-by: the cows reproduce less / fewer calves, and their weight gain is reduced, ranchers have to send time & money watching for wolf pack attacks, and ..
They are gearing up to establish a grizzly season too, if memory serves.
Wolves killed 120 buck sheep in a pasture south of Dillon, Montana.. Kathy Konen says the sheep were killed, but their carcasses were almost all intact... Jon Konen said: “I had tears in my eyes, not only for myself but for what my stock had to go through.. “
A pack of wolves recently slaughtered a herd of elk in one night... Nineteen elk, mostly calves dead near Jackson, Wyoming... The carcasses aren’t chewed on for food... But there’s nothing the state agency can do.
Pictures at ..
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3672882/posts?page=62#62
In 2012, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service planned to take wolves off the endangered list and turn over management of the animals to Wyoming. That would have allowed state-regulated hunting of wolves.
But a federal judge ( Donald Molloy ) ruled that wolves remain under federal control and be relisted as an endangered species.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3672882/posts?page=65#65
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.