Colorado’s wolves make a break for Rocky Mountain National Park

From Yahoo News:

Rocky Mountain National Park has welcomed a new resident – gray wolves, which have been detected in the area for the first time in 80 years. Four months after 10 wolves were first released into the wild in the Centennial State, wolf activity has been detected in the state’s crown jewel.

The wolves, which were relocated from Oregon in December, were fitted with tracking devices to allow Colorado Parks and Wildlife to keep tabs on their movement and assess their behavior. The department has been releasing monthly updates to the public, and yesterday’s news update revealed that the wolves have traveled across the Continental Divide, into the front range and most notably into Colorado’s biggest National Park.

 

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Animal Welfare, Conservation Groups Announce Intent to Sue in Wake of Wolf’s Killing

From Pagosa Daily Post:

n the heels of the recent drawn-out torture of a captured and bound gray wolf, a coalition of organizations has filed their 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for their refusal to restore Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections to the Western gray wolf. The Notice of Intent may be viewed at this link.

In July 2021, this coalition — Animal Wellness Action, the Center for a Humane Economy, Project Coyote, Kettle Range Conservation Group, Footloose Montana, and Gallatin Wildlife Association, along with dozens of other organizations — filed a petition with the FWS requesting federal ESA protections for gray wolves in the Western United States.

 

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Wolf Management Might Be Keeping Woodland Caribou from Going Extinct in Canada, Study Suggests

From Field & Stream:

A government-sponsored wolf-reduction program is playing a major role in the rebound of endangered woodland caribou populations in Canada, according to a recently published study in the journal of Ecological Applications. Authored by 32 researchers from Canada, the United States, and New Zealand, the study found that wildlife managers in British Columbia and Alberta were able to increase the numbers of struggling populations of woodland caribou by more than 50 percent by targeting and removing wolves and by providing cows and calves with supplemental feed inside fully-enclosed penning sites.

 

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One of Colorado’s reintroduced wolves is dead, another is likely expecting pups

From The Colorado Sun:

Just a few hours after U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists confirmed that one of the 10 gray wolves transplanted to Colorado in December was found dead in Larimer County, the state’s top wildlife official told ranchers he will not kill a wolf blamed for the death of four cows in Grand County because it is likely the mate to a wolf that appears to be denning.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis on Tuesday said GPS points from the female wolf’s collar indicate that she is likely in a den. In early April, GPS points stopped uploading and very recently those points began to upload again.

 

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One of Colorado’s released wolves found dead in Larimer County

From The Coloradoan:

One of Colorado’s 10 released wolves has been found dead in Larimer County.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told the Coloradoan on April 23 it was made aware of the deceased gray wolf April 18 and determined it was one of the wolves captured in Oregon and released in Grand or Summit counties in late December as part of the state’s reintroduction program.

 

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CPW Confirms Wolf Predations

From Tri-State Livestock News:

Four yearling cattle have been killed by wolves in Grand and Jackson counties according to confirmation given to the producer by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The four yearlings, weighing about 600 pounds, all came from the same ranch with three killed Monday night or Tuesday morning and a fourth on Wednesday.

 

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Yellowstone’s Wolves: A Debate Over Their Role in the Park’s Ecosystem

From New York Times:

In 1995, 14 wolves were delivered by truck and sled to the heart of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, where the animal had long been absent. Others followed.

Since then, a story has grown up, based on early research, that as the wolves increased in number, they hunted the park’s elk herds, significantly reducing them by about half from 17,000.

 

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Large study shows caribou herds in Alberta, B.C., growing from wolf culls, cow pens

From City News Everywhere:

Fresh research suggests western Canada’s once-dwindling caribou numbers are finally growing.

But the same paper concludes the biggest reason for the rebound is the slaughter of hundreds of wolves, a policy that will likely have to go on for decades.

“If we don’t shoot wolves, given the state of the habitat that industry and government have allowed, we will lose caribou,” said Clayton Lamb, one of 34 co-authors of a newly published study in the journal Ecological Applications.

 

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Yellowstone Wolves Kill Elk, Drag Carcass onto High School Football Field

From Outdoor Life:

Living in a gateway town to Yellowstone National Park comes with the usual perks and challenges, from abundant wildlife to summers flooded with tourists. But a new spectacle arose on April 12 for Gardiner Public School students and faculty when they discovered that a pack of wolves had killed a cow elk, dragged the carcass onto the GHS football field, and eaten part of it right there — leaving behind a mess of blood, meat, and hide.

 

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