Colorado Wolf Update: Secret phone calls, fires, and another dead in Wyoming
August 8, 2025
Wolf compensation is again in the news after a secretly recorded phone call was released by Coberly Creek Ranch that captured a Colorado Parks and Wildlife investigator admitting she believed a killed calf was a result of a wolf, but that she was being pressured to not rule it as such. CPW had told the ranchers “investigators determined that it was improbable that a wolf killed the calf” while on the call, the investigator said, “I don't like it, you're not going to like it, is that everybody's telling me I have to call it inconclusive and if I don't call it inconclusive…they're going to argue with me.”
The state settled the dispute agreeing to classify the loss as a wolf kill and pay compensation after the ranch's attorney presented CPW with the recording.
CPW reported this week that female gray wolf 2304, one of the wolves from Oregon, was found dead on July 24, 2025, in Wyoming. CPW has coordinated with Wyoming Game and Fish for the return of its tracking collar, however Wyoming state law prevents further details from being shared.
CPW also confirmed three depredation events caused by an uncollared wolf in Rio Blanco County on July 20, 22, and August 2, 2025. The situation meets CPW's definition of Chronic Depredation and under normal circumstances the situation would warrant lethal removal operations in the area, however, the allotments where the depredations occurred are under evacuation due to the Elk Fire. CPW has been coordinating with producers and local woolgrowers associations to provide around-the-clock range rider coverage while opportunistically hazing the wolf. Range riding efforts supplemented existing non-lethal conflict minimization tools already deployed by the producer as determined by a site assessment conducted earlier this year to discourage depredation on these allotments.
Davis called the circumstance unprecedented and said CPW is continuing to monitor the situation in Rio Blanco County while coordinating with emergency services to prioritize human safety and minimize loss of livestock.
