A dead gray wolf found in Larimer County last month was most likely killed by a mountain lion, according to information from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

“The initial necropsy report conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the deceased gray wolf found in Larimer County on April 18, 2024 finds that the cause of death is trauma, consistent with predation. Although not definitive, the puncture wounds in the skull are consistent with those typically inflicted by a mountain lion,” the agency said.

Meanwhile, another yearling at the ranch of Conway Farrell in Grand County has been killed by a wolf, according to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife wolf depredation report.

Farrell has now lost six yearling cattle to wolves in the past month.

Wolves started killing calves and yearlings in Grand County on April 2 at the heart of calving season for many ranchers.

A total of 28 cattle, dogs and sheep have been killed by wolves in Colorado, including by a pack that migrated into Jackson County from Wyoming. 

Despite numerous pleas and letters, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has refused to take lethal action against the wolves that appear to be targeting Farrell’s cattle.

The state agency claimed the wolves killing Farrell’s cattle are a nesting pair preparing for the birth of pups.

The Middle Park Stockgrowers sent another letter to the agency on May 6, asking that Wolf No. 2309, the male of the pair, be lethally removed, pointing to a number of provisions within the state’s wolf management plan that should allow that wolf to be removed.

“We believe that Wolf No. 2309 is now responsible for at least … five livestock over a period of 11 days,” the group said. (This was prior to the most recent killing).

The group asked for a depredation history on Wolf No. 2309 and a juvenile female, known as Wolf No. 2312, which the organization also believes has been killing cattle in Grand County. 

The letter pointed out three provisions from the wolf plan:

• Page 12: No wolf should be translocated that has a known history of chronic depredation, and sourcing from geographic areas with chronic depredation events should not occur.

• Page 12: A known wolf or pack of wolves that have been identified as chronic depredators by the source location should not be used for translocation to Colorado.

• Page 13: Areas known to have chronic depredation should be avoided as a source of donor populations.

The wolf plan also lays out four criteria for lethal removal, including “documented repeated depredation and harassment in a limited geography caused by the wolf or pack targeted,” as well when previous efforts to employ nonlethal deterrents have not worked.

The state’s wolf management plan pledged not to bring wolves with a history of chronic depredation — killing livestock — to Colorado. But, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, at least six of the wolves transferred to Colorado came from packs with that history.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has yet to come up with a definition of chronic depredation, which the state claimed would allow for lethal action. 

Oregon’s 2023 wolf report said depredation by their wolves increased in the state’s East Zone by 27%, despite extensive use of nonlethal deterrents. Colorado’s 10 wolves came from Oregon’s east zone, according to the report.

The state of Oregon paid out almost $500,000 for wolf depredation in 2023, the report said. In December, two wolves that killed four cattle in a little over a month were lethally removed. 

The Middle Park Stockgrowers pointed out that suggestions on nonlethal management from CPW have not worked. 

“These depredations have occurred despite the producers’ nonlethal management actions,” the group said, noting that CPW Director Jeff Davis’ letter also acknowledged that CPW staff has been working with the producer to “do night patrols and deploy conflict minimization tools” but that since April 18, the producer has “also used fox lights, cracker shells, Critter Gitter, and night checks with CPW personnel but that has not stopped the depredations.”

“Non-lethal methods didn’t work. Depredation occurred April 28th to the same producer on the same ranch as prior killings,” the group said. 

The group’s letter also sought to dispute claims by Gov. Jared Polis that voters knew about wolves’ diet prior to their vote on Proposition 114.

“Nowhere in the ballot for the reintroduction of wolves is there language about the diet of wolves including livestock as alleged by Governor Polis’ press release of April 23,” the stockgrowers said.

The group also noted the ballot language on wolf reintroduction, which said that “restoration of the gray wolf to the state must be designed to resolve conflicts with persons engaged in ranching and farming in this state.”

That’s a clear statement that there must be a balance and that conflicts must be resolved, the stockgrowers wrote.

The group also disputed Davis’ claim in his April 23 letter that the agency has a duty to establish a self-sustaining population while “minimizing conflict risks.”

The statute requires the state to “resolve conflicts,” not simply minimize them, the stockgrowers replied. Nor does the wolf plan require the state to wait until it has the 50 wolves it has planned to reintroduce, the group added.