Wolves are definitely a problem for those folks out there.
With that being said, I don't believe wolves killed this cat. Very little blood on the ground, no visible fight scars especially at the neck which would have been required to kill it in this case, and no evidence of it being eaten, especially by a number of wolves. And whats up with the rope?
My guess is that the cat may have been gut shot at some point and eventually died where it was photographed.......
It helps to click on the link.
“The F&G officers stopped by today to tell me about the cougar autopsy. The wolves had mauled it on the back, rump, and they believe the kill bite was on the windpipe-neck area. The stomach ripping was after it was down.”
The wolves are killing for fun, not just for food. Wolves are leaving uneaten carcasses of elk, deer, moose, cattle, sheep, and everything else they kill for fun scattered along the Rockies from Canada to New Mexico.
The "rope" you see is the cougar's intestines. The wolves kill in packs, usually with one latching on to the anus/groin area, another rips open the gut cavity, another latches onto the throat area, another attacks the neck or spine. Then they leave the carcass, and search for another sporting event. They only need to eat one killed animal for every ten or so abandoned carcasses.