Colorado Parks and Wildlife said any wolves that have been near livestock will have some history of depredation and said this includes all packs in Oregon. This, according to CPW, ought not exclude wolves of those depredating packs from source populations. According to the Wolf Management Plan, there is not a specific definition of a “chronically depredating” pack or wolf.

CPW completed their agreement with Oregon with the release of 10 wolves onto state-owned public lands in Summit and Grand counties. Wolves released from the Five Points Pack are 2302-OR, a 68-pound yearling female, and 2303-OR, a 76-pound yearling male. Wolves released from the Noregaard Pack include 2304-OR, a 76-pound yearling female, 2305-OR, a 93-pound yearling male; 2306-OR, a 66-pound yearling female, and 2308-OR, a 74-pound yearling female. Both 2307-OR, a 108-pound adult male, and 2309-OR, a 104-pound adult male, both came from the Wenaha Pack; 2310-OR, a 71-pound yearling female, came from the Desolation Pack; and the 10th wolf released is 2312-OR, a 76-pound yearling female.

The information detailing the release of the final five wolves came from CPW at the close of business on Dec. 23. In that release, CPW clarified their biologists selected “yearling and adult wolves that are mature enough to hunt prey on their own. Wolves are typically born in April of each year, and a wolf that was born in April of 2022 would be almost 20 months old now. That animal is called a yearling. That animal is capable of hunting on its own. Yearlings were candidates for translocation and the majority of the animals CPW translocated were yearlings (previously termed ‘juvenile’).”

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This clarification indicates that source wolves were old enough to potentially be involved in depredation incidents prior to their release in Colorado.

Depredation incidents

According to Oregon wolf depredation records, Five Points Pack wolves injured one calf and killed another in separate depredations in July of 2023; killed a cow on Dec. 5, 2022; and injured a 900-pound yearling heifer on July 17, 2022. The Noregaard Pack was involved in the confirmed killing of a calf and one possible kill in June, the Desolation Pack was involved in the confirmed kill of a steer in September and an attack on two calves in May; and two wolves came from the Wenaha Pack that had confirmed kills in September and October. One wolf released into Colorado was not associated with a pack.

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According to the plan, management actions following confirmed depredation by wolves include education, both non-injurious and potentially injurious hazing, and lethal control. However, Walden rancher Don Gittleson’s formal request to CPW to remove two wolves was denied on Dec. 22, 2023. Wolf 2101 has been confirmed by CPW as responsible for injuring or killing seven head of livestock on the Gittleson Angus operation, has killed or injured four domestic dogs, and has killed or injured a total of 13 cattle. Wolf 2103 was involved in all of these attacks with the exception of the most recent attack on a replacement heifer at Gittleson Angus. Wolf 2103 is also responsible for killing three lambs in November in the area.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 10(j) rule, “depredating wolves” is defined as “gray wolves that have been confirmed by the service or (their) designated agent as having depredated on livestock at least once within the last 30 days and are routinely present and present a significant risk to the health and safety of livestock.” The 10j rule includes a provision to issue a “depredation” written take authorization of limited duration (45 days or less) to a landowner or their employees to take up to a specified number of wolves on their private land, if the landowner has had at least one confirmed depredation by wolves on livestock. 

According to the plan, CPW program managers will make the determination as to whether a situation is characterized as chronic depredation on a case-by-case basis. A full evaluation of the circumstances will include considerations such as: 1) documented repeated depredation and harassment in a limited geography caused by the wolf or pack targeted; 2) previously implemented practices to reduce depredation; 3) likelihood that additional and continued wolf related mortality would continue if control is or is not implemented; and 4) unintentional or intentional use of attractants that may be luring or baiting wolves to the location.

CPW defended their selection of source wolves from Oregon, saying in a statement there were two depredation events by members of the Five Points Pack in July 2023. The state of Oregon has a Wolf Management Plan that details how to respond to livestock depredation. Per the plan, ODFW provided the producer with a lethal removal permit after they requested it. The producer’s agent lethally removed four wolves from the pack in early August. The pack has not depredated since. This change in pack behavior and the lack of current depredations met CPW criteria for accepting the animals.

According to a statement, CPW teams in Oregon passed on several larger and easier-to-access packs because they had recent depredation or had a chronic or ongoing depredation history.

This story is from TheFencePost.com.