Posted on 12/21/2021 4:05:08 PM PST by george76
A confirmed wolf kill was discovered near Walden, Colo., the home of one of Colorado’s wolf packs. An approximately 500 pound purebred replacement heifer was found dead after being attacked and eaten by this pack of wolves. This is the first confirmed wolf kill of livestock in Colorado in over 70 years.
In early 2021, Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed the existence of this pack in north central Colorado; however, individual wolves have been sited in the area previous to the pack confirmation. Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials are working closely with the livestock producer to learn as much from this situation as possible as a mechanism to better inform Colorado’s current Wolf Restoration and Management Plan.
“On behalf of the livestock producer, who is a member of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, as well as Colorado Parks and Wildlife, we ask that the public refrain from disturbing the area and individuals associated with this wolf attack,” said Steve Wooten, CCA president.
While unfortunate, this wolf kill further brings to light issues that must be addressed by the Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, specifically:
Lethal and non-lethal methods, including hazing, of wolves for conflict minimization.
A guaranteed funding source that allows Colorado Parks and Wildlife to fairly provide the needed tools for prevention and compensation from wolf impacts.
Impacts from wolves go beyond livestock death and injury, to include more far-reaching impacts on livestock performance, such as loss of pregnancy, weight loss, imbalanced range usage, etc.
A strongly encourages the members of the Wolf Restoration and Management Plan working groups and the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to consider this wolf attack and the widespread impacts as a sentinel example of how livestock can be impacted by wolf introduction.
I wonder how long you would last trying to run a ranch.
It is. And there are also these Canadian wolves that are not natural but were transplanted.
I don’t know about wolves in Colorado but if I see any around me when I’m camping on BLM land they may possibly meet Mr Marlin.
A young one you bring in to replace an old one past her breeding age.
Alaska is not Colorado-it is a much bigger and colder place-with lots of game and apex predators and not a lot of people crowded together in cities. There are seasons in Alaska for the legal harvest of both game and predator animals to keep the ecosystem in balance-it works very well...
In most states, an on-site count of every species of game and predator is done by game wardens at least once a year, county by county-it determines the number of animals of each species from doves to bears, mountain lions, etc that a hunter is limited to kill in a season. If there are too many animals of a species in a county, then the limit is higher for that species there-if the numbers of a species are too low, then the limit is lower, or that animal may not even be hunted at all until the numbers recover-that is how the ecological balance is kept. When there are enough wolves in Colorado to justify a season, I’m pretty sure there will be one.
Obviously, livestock is not part of the game count or the ratio of prey/predator species, since cattle, sheep, goats, etc are not part of the native animal population, being introduced species and not wildlife...
On private land, sensible folks mostly electrify the fences of their livestock pastures-especially on large acreage-if you lease govt. land, you can’t do that-you graze livestock at your own risk of predators, accident, theft, etc...
It is a younger cow you put in the herd to replace an older one you removed that is no longer a good breeder-or at least that is what you do where I’m from...
George, I moved to New Mexico in 2011, and worked for the newspaper there. Where I lived is in the Mexican Gray Wolf recovery area. I have friends, ranchers, who are losing their livelihoods, in this mismanaged recovery program. Long story, but the goal is to remove cattle producers from their deeded land and grazing portions of public land. I have published a lot of articles about it. Google my name, Etta Pettijohn, and wolves. It is a travesty.
Convenient attitude when it’s not your livestock being killed nor your children being threatened.
If they weren't sitting in meetings working on their sobriety the wolves could really be dangerous.
Killing family ranchers with free range, grass feed beef will benefit large corporate feed lots.. Monsanto and their billionaire pals love selling growth hormones, penicillin, and other chemicals to put in your food
Good to hear from you.
I will search for : Etta Pettijohn, and wolves.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Etta+Pettijohn%2C+and+wolves.&t=brave&ia=web
https://swisscows.com/web?culture=en&query=Etta%20Pettijohn%2C%20and%20wolves.
Two-Thirds of Idaho Wolf Carcasses examined have Thousands of Hydatid Disease / Echinococcosis granulosus Tapeworms. Despite warnings from experts. FWS and IDFG ignored diseases, parasites spread by Wolves..
This was common knowledge among wildlife biologists in northern Canada and in Alaska where FWS biologist Ed Bangs was stationed.
Wish we could hunt them in the Great Lakes...Trump was working on it.
Re-introduce wolves to Denver and Philly and New York City and Washington, DC
If so, I hope he is rotting somewhere unpleasant.
I forgot Seattle, Portland and San Francisco.
Yes there is! And we were all better off without them.
And countless pets taken from yards, front porches.
These things are vermin.
Yes. Out in WA state the feds wanted to plant grizxlies in the Cascades.
WA finally won that battle. But their MO is to put all the apex predators they can everywhere.
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