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Colorado Parks and Wildlife makes "very difficult" decision to kill gray wolf in Pitkin County

Colorado Parks and Wildlife makes "very difficult" decision to kill gray wolf
Colorado Parks and Wildlife makes "very difficult" decision to kill gray wolf 00:30

Officials with Colorado Parks and Wildlife say they have killed a gray wolf in Pitkin County. It's the first time the agency has used what it call "lethal management action" on a wolf since it began reintroduction of the animals into the state in 2023.

The agency said in a news release on Friday that the animal was part of the Copper Creek Pack and that the pack was repeatedly attacking livestock in the area between May 17 and May 25.

CPW says it attempted deterrents and other non-lethal hazing measures before killing the animal Thursday.

The hope is that the "lethal removal" leads to a change in what the pack views as its primary food source.

CPW Director Jeff Davis called the decision "very difficult."

"Our wildlife biologists and officers constructed a timeline of recent events that shows the depredation behavior met the conditions for chronic depredation that were defined earlier this year. We have great respect for these animals and take the removal of a wolf very seriously. Removal of problem animals is unfortunate and rare, but consistent with the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan," he said in a prepared statement.

Davis said most of the wolves that have been reintroduced in Colorado "are sticking to natural food sources and avoiding livestock conflicts."

CPW Commissioner Murphy Robinson released a statement about the situation on Friday.

"It's unfortunate that the wolf that was killing livestock had to be taken in this matter, however I am confident that CPW and the ranchers affected by these depredations exhausted every tool in their tool belt to try and make this wolf successful in its environment; but unfortunately, it wasn't enough to get the wolf to stop killing," Robinson said. "I applaud CPW for their tireless work in making sure our state continues to have a successful implementation of the bill that was passed by the people of Colorado."

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