Advocates call for quick release of Copper Creek wolves; ranchers call removal ‘good’

DENVER (KDVR) — Gray wolf advocates and Colorado livestock producers are still clashing over the operations surrounding the Copper Creek wolf pack , which was captured earlier this month in an attempt to relocate the canines and cease depredations.

Wolf depredations occur when a livestock producer’s product, such as sheep or cows, is killed by predating wolves. So far in 2024, there have been 15 reports of wolf depredations , mainly in Grand and Jackson counties.

The Center for Biological Diversity has been vocal about its support of the wolf reintroduction efforts and said Thursday in a statement that as soon as the pups are big enough, they should be released.

“It’s awful to hear that another one of Colorado’s reintroduced wolves has died,” said Alli Henderson, southern Rockies director at the Center for Biological Diversity, in an email. “With only six of the 10 wolves released in December now still in the wild, it’s critical that the Copper Creek pack be re-released as soon as the pups are big enough. Wolves face daily threats to their survival, and we need these wolves and additional wolves released into the wild to ensure that this historic effort continues to make progress.”

However, earlier this week Erin Karney-Spaur, the executive vice president of the Colorado Cattlemen Association, said the news of the wolves’ capture is good.

“When we first got the release that they were capturing the wolves, I think from the livestock community’s standpoint, we are all very happy that those wolves are being captured and taken off the landscape so we can no longer have livestock depredation from that specific pack anymore,” Karney-Spaur said.

CPW also said the pups are still mainly dependent on their parents for food and have deciduous teeth (baby teeth), and the pups are not effective hunters for animals larger than rabbits or squirrels. CPW has also been awarding funds to various livestock groups for nonlethal wolf deterrents, including range riders.

“There is no evidence that the four pups were involved in any of the livestock depredation incidents in Grand County,” CPW said in its announcement of the pack’s capture.

Karney-Spaur said she is concerned this could set the state’s precedent for what happens in the future. She said lethally removing wolves that are bad actors would be the best action.

“We just want to make sure that it’s written into the wolf plan,” she said, “And kind of agreed upon by all of the citizens in Colorado that if there is counted conflict with livestock that we have to accept there is going to be lethal take of wolves who are bad actors and I think we have to just ensure that’s going to happen and this doesn’t set a precedent into the future.”

Davis said the agency will take the lessons learned from the Copper Creek pack and apply them to future endeavors in the wolf restoration in the state. That includes conversations with federal and ranching partners.

CPW has said previously that it will not share the active locations of the wolves, including where the Copper Creek pack is being held at this point, and will not share the location of the wolves’ re-release once the time comes.

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