Colorado Parks and Wildlife has confirmed that an uncollared wolf killed a cow in Jackson County on Feb. 5.

According to a CPW statement on Feb. 15, a CPW wildlife officer investigated the claim and concluded that “based on the preponderance of evidence the cow died as a result of depredation by a wolf.”  

The depredation is believed to have been committed by a wolf that is not part of the Colorado reintroduction effort and is not collared in the North Park area. 

Several wolves moved into North Park, Jackson County, several years ago from Wyoming; at least two, a breeding pair, are collared. 

The Feb. 5 killing is at least the 18th reported killing of livestock in Jackson County since 2021. Those attacks have resulted in the deaths of at least 18 cows and calves, three sheep and three working cattle dogs.

Ranchers who have lost animals to wolves can file compensation claims with the state. 

The rancher whose cow was killed on Feb. 5 told Steamboat Radio the cow was pregnant, and that he lost a dog to a wolf in March 2023.

Early calving season has begun on the Western Slope and will continue through at least May. Last year’s calving season saw at least a dozen cattle, mostly calves, killed by wolves in Grand, Jackson and Routt counties. The killings in Grand and Routt counties are believed to be tied to the reintroduced wolves brought to Colorado from Oregon by CPW in December, 2023. 

Some of those Oregon wolves came with a history of killing livestock, despite a claim in the state’s wolf management plan that they would not bring those kinds of wolves to Colorado.

Those wolves, a breeding pair local ranchers refer to as Bonnie & Clyde, were rounded up, along with four pups, last September. The female of the pair and the four pups were re-released into Eagle and Pitkins counties last month. The male died from injuries unrelated to his capture; CPW initially said the wolf had deep puncture wounds but later said it was a gunshot wound.

Ranchers have filed claims with the state for more than $581,000 for 2023 for lost livestock and lower weight cattle. That far exceeds the amount the General Assembly sets aside annually for paying those claims. 

Voters approved the reintroduction of wolves on the Western Slope in 2020, with support almost entirely from Front Range voters.  The Western Slope counties where wolves have been relocated overwhelmingly voted against the measure, except for Pitkin County. 

Wolf reintroduction has been controversial from the first release, when local elected officials and ranchers didn’t find out the wolves were in their communities until after the release. 

An effort to repeal that law in the 2026 election is now underway. The measure says reintroductions would end on Dec. 31, 2026, about six weeks after the election.

A review and comment letter from the Legislative Council Staff and Office of Legislative Legal Services asked whether the sponsors’ intent is to remove wolves already reintroduced in Colorado. A hearing on the measure is scheduled for Wednesday at 10 a.m.