Colorado Parks and Wildlife has announced plans to euthanize at least one wolf from the Copper Creek pack following the killing of several livestock in the Pitkin County area.

According to a letter obtained by 9News, the state is looking for the wolf — or wolves — for about a week following a depredation incident on July 18.

“Staff have been in the area since Sunday, July 20th attempting to locate the wolves,” a letter from the wildlife agency to the Holy Cross Cattlemen’s Association said. “As you are aware, the terrain is challenging at best, and staff have not been able to get close to the wolves after multiple attempts.”

“Staff will continue to monitor locations and attempt to intervene if possible,” the state added.

A separate statement from the agency said the state believes targeting the wolf responsible for the depredation will change pack behavior by “discouraging continued targeting of livestock as a prey base.”

The state’s wolf management plan allows CPW to euthanize a wolf if it has been found to have repeatedly preyed on livestock or working dogs, causing “significant damage.”

In May, CPW euthanized another member of the Copper Creek Pack in Pitkin County due to chronic depredation. It was the first time the agency had to euthanize a wolf since the predator were reintroduced in Colorado in 2023.

Ranchers said that first lethal intervention didn’t change the pack’s depredating behavior. On July 18, CPW had confirmed a Copper Creek wolf was still killing livestock and at the same ranch in Pitkin County.

“The decision to take lethal management action was very difficult,” CPW Director Jeff Davis said in a news release. “Our wildlife biologists and officers constructed a timeline of recent events that shows the depredation behavior met the conditions for chronic depredation that were defined earlier this year.”

He added: “We have great respect for these animals and take the removal of a wolf very seriously. Removal of problem animals is unfortunate and rare, but consistent with the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan.”

The Copper Creek Pack was originally placed in Grand County, but after more than a dozen livestock were killed, the state captured the wolves and several of their pups and placed them at a wildlife sanctuary before permanently moving them to Pitkin County, despite the wolf management plan’s recommendation against relocating wolves with a history of chronic depredation.

The state defines chronic depredation as the killing of three or more livestock or working dogs by the same wolf or wolves within a 30-day period.

As of July 30, there have been nearly 50 confirmed depredations by gray wolves in the state.