Copper Peak wolf pack to be relocated after attacks on livestock

Colorado wildlife managers are relocating a group of reintroduced gray wolves in Grand County following multiple depredations.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife said in a statement the relocation operation for the Copper Creek pack, announced on Tuesday, isn’t a precedent for how the agency expects to handle future conflicts between wolves and livestock.

“The decision to capture and relocate the Copper Creek pack was made with the careful consideration of multiple factors and feedback from many different stakeholders,” CPW Director Jeff Davis said. “Our options in this unique case were very limited, and this action is by no means a precedent for how CPW will resolve wolf-livestock conflict moving forward.”

“The ultimate goal of the operation is to relocate the pack to another location while we assess our best options for them to continue to contribute to the successful restoration of wolves in Colorado,” he added.

The pack, which was caught on video earlier this month that was obtained by CPW, includes at least two breeding adults and three pups in Grand County.

CPW released gray wolves in Grand County last December, which was required after voters narrowly approved Proposition 114 in 2020. Since reintroduction, there have been seven confirmed depredations in Grand County alone, according to CPW records .

The relocation operation is possible because of a federal designation for the wolves that the state secured before reintroduction efforts began last December. The 10(j) rule in the Endangered Species Act allows Colorado’s wolves to be managed as an “experimental population.”

CPW said it would not disclose the location of the pack or operation “for the safety of these animals and staff.”