Ranchers ask feds to manage Colorado wolves, another wolf dead

September 13, 2024 — According to a spokesperson for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, on Sept. 10, 2024, a gray wolf was found dead in Grand County, Colorado. As a federally listed species under the Endangered Species Act, the service is investigating and will conduct a necropsy. This wolf was one of the 10 released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in December 2023 in Grand County, and the service is working cooperatively with CPW in their investigation. No additional details will be available until the investigation is complete, though The Fence Post has already made requests for the results of the necropsy scheduled.

“We received a mortality signal from the GPS collar on wolf 2307 on Sept. 9,” CPW Director Jeff Davis said in a statement. “Our staff confirmed he was deceased on Sept. 10.”

Davis said, “these types of restoration efforts consider anticipated mortalities in our planning and a degree of wolf mortality, just like for any wildlife, is expected both during restoration efforts and on an ongoing basis” and called it sad news.

Also on Sept. 9, CPW confirmed in an email that local staff in Grand County is investigating a possible wolf depredation ranchers say was discovered that day, after the removal of the Copper Creek Pack. Shannon Lukens reported that ranchers say three calves have been killed in the past few days and only one was confirmed by CPW. Ranchers say a cow was killed too, but bears ate it before CPW could confirm it. The CPW wolf depredation page had not been updated at press time.

COPPER CREEK PACK

Finally, also on Sept. 9, 2024, CPW, with technical support from federal partners, said they completed the process to capture all six animals from the Copper Creek wolf pack.

The adult female 2312-OR, adult male 2309-OR, as well as four pups from the Copper Creek pack were transported to a secure location for evaluation and monitoring. Wolf 2312-OR was captured first, found in good body condition and transported with no issues.

CPW biologists were on site to assess the health of the animals, and facilitate transportation to a large, secure enclosure with limited human interaction to balance the needs of the animals and Colorado communities. According to CPW, the wolves are housed at a privately owned facility and are being fed roadkill while trying to minimize interaction with humans.

After conducting additional survey work following the capture of the last pup and not finding anything additional, CPW staff is confident that all the members of the Copper Creek pack have been captured.

The Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan states that CPW will not relocate wolves with depredation histories into the wild within Colorado.

“The plan also calls for flexibility,” said CPW Director Davis, “and it may not at times account for every unique situation the agency and our experts encounter. This spring, after a pair of wolves established a den in Middle Park, the male adult wolf was involved in multiple depredations. Removing the male at that time, while he was the sole source of food and the female was denning, would likely have been fatal to the pups and counter to the restoration mandate.”  

The adult male wolf, 2309-OR who was captured next following the capture of 2312-OR, was found in poor condition, with several injuries to his right hind leg, unrelated to the capture. The wolf’s body weight was nearly 30% lower than it was when he was released in December. CPW staff administered antibiotics in an effort to address infections from his injury. Four days after transport, CPW’s wolf team biologists received a mortality signal from 2309-OR’s collar and the animal was confirmed to be deceased. CPW staff believes that it was unlikely the wolf would have survived for very long in the wild. A full necropsy will be conducted. Pups 2401, 2403, 2405 and 2402 were captured over the course of three days, with capture operations concluding on Sept. 8 and were underweight and otherwise healthy.

The pups are still primarily dependent on adults for food, have deciduous teeth and are not effective hunters of anything larger than a rabbit or squirrel. There is no evidence that the four pups were involved in any of the livestock depredation incidents in Grand County. CPW will continue to assess the female and pups’ health and advance plans to re-release them, as they will be adult-sized and able to hunt on their own or together in a pack. This approach gives CPW the opportunity to release them into the wild together so they can contribute to wolf restoration in Colorado. CPW will have conversations with local elected officials and landowners in possible release areas before a release occurs.

According to CPW, August and September months are the most difficult for wild wolves given natural prey fitness. Holding them will allow CPW to ensure that their caloric needs are being met and will allow the agency to evaluate their progress over the coming weeks and work to ensure that all animals are in good condition before being released.

“We are still in the early stages of the restoration plan. Our legal obligation to Colorado voters is to continue working towards a sustainable population. We also must continue our efforts to minimize losses to our producers and to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of the wolves as we work towards a viable gray wolf population,” said Davis.

“We will take the lessons we’ve learned here and apply them as we continue to build out a strong program alongside our federal and state partners, and both the wolf restoration advocacy and ranching communities. The more we’re able to listen to understand one another and increase cooperation, the better off we’ll all be in the long run. Our focus in this case now is on a healthy release of the remaining members of the Copper Creek pack,” said Davis.

CHANGE OF MANAGEMENT

Sept. 9 was also the day Don Gittleson confirmed that he and his family have requested that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services take over decision-making for management of Colorado wolves. Gittleson said CPW is “more than capable of making sound decisions but they are not the ones making the decisions when it comes to wolves. The governor, and the first gentleman are making the decision based on emotion and their individual opinions due to their close ties to several NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) -that are only concerned with getting as many wolves on the ground in Colorado as possible.”

In a letter dated Aug. 28, to USFWS Regional Wolf Coordinator Scott Becker and USFWS Regional Director Matt Hogan, the Gittleson family and Conway Farrell and family said, “due to the governor’s and his spouse’s relationship with wolf advocacy groups and their own feelings, he is not allowing Colorado Parks and Wildlife leaders to make adequate and reasonable decisions in regards to the management of wolves. We have actually been told by members of CPW that the governor is making the decisions.”

The families said CPW has been anything but transparent with the ranching community, the press and ultimately the entire general public of Colorado, including CPW officers working on the ground.

The letter concluded by saying:

“It is very evident that Gov. Polis is at the helm of all decisions regarding wolf management. Recent comments by the first gentleman on his Facebook reinforce what is already known, that management decisions are being based on emotions and their personal involvement with many wolf advocacy groups rather than rules, common sense, and to protect the agricultural community as well as wolves. The way CPW is currently managing, or not managing these wolves, is ruining their relationship with many in the agricultural community and is not helping the wolves either. This situation is having a very big financial and emotional impact on the ranching community in both Grand and Jackson counties.”

Gittleson has requested that others also send letters requesting the same.

Timeline of Copper Creek pack capture operation:

On Thursday, Aug. 22, CPW began the operation to capture and relocate wolves from the depredating Copper Creek wolf pack, with technical support from federal partners.

• The adult female 2312-OR was captured on Sunday, Aug. 25.

• The adult male 2309-OR was captured on Thursday, Aug. 29 and died on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

• The male pup 2401 was captured on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

• Male pups 2403 and 2405 were captured on Wednesday, Sept. 4.

• The female pup 2402 was captured on Thursday, Sept. 5.

After three more days of operations, CPW felt confident there were no additional pups on the landscape. For the safety of these animals and staff, CPW will not be sharing the location of the pack.

Source: Rachel Gabel, The Fence Post Magazine and Western Ag Network