By Shannon Lukens at Shannon@SteamboatRadio.com.

 

A rancher’s dog was killed over the weekend by a pack of wolves in Jackson County. Here’s Travis Duncan with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

 

The dog’s name was Bus, short for Buster. Bus was a Border Collie. His owner is Carlos Atencio, who is a ranch manager of an 11,000 acre property about 15 miles east of Walden. Atencio explained how he discovered his dog was attacked by the wolves.

 

Atencio was surprised that he didn’t hear anything during the attack, but his indoor dog knew something was out there.

 

Atencio says there’s not a lot he can do since wolves are protected in Colorado.

 

Todd Hagenbuch is the director of the CSU Extension office out of Routt County and an Agriculture Agent. He says ranchers throughout Northwest Colorado are very aware of wolves coming into the state.

 

Hagenbuch says it is something that isn’t going away.

 

Atencio will be filing paperwork with Colorado Parks and Wildlife Thursday to be reimbursed with the state as Bus was a working dog on his ranch.

Here’s more from CPW tonight.

These were working dogs that helped herd animals on this property and the rancher will be reimbursed for his loss.

CPW will handle reimbursement of the incident under its current game damage process as if the depredation occurred by mountain lions or bears. CPW is in the process of formalizing an official process for damage by wolves.

Depredation compensation is required by statute, and the final Colorado compensation plan will be part of the overall Gray Wolf planning process. Recent Stakeholder Advisory Group and Technical Working Group meetings have focused on the topic of depredation compensation; meeting summaries are available at https://www.wolfengagementco.org/advisory-groups.

Depredation compensation will not utilize revenues generated by the sale of hunting or fishing license fees.  HB21-1243, signed into law by Governor Polis prohibits the use of such revenues for compensation of depredation by wolves. Compensation will occur via the General Fund, the Species Conservation Trust Fund, the Colorado Nongame Conservation and Wildlife Restoration Cash Funds, or other sources identified in the legislation.

 

Have there been any other wolf vs. dog reports since the state passed the reintroduction legislation?

No, there have been no other reports. Because of the broad awareness and public attention on Proposition 114 and the mandated wolf reintroduction efforts in the state, it’s worth underscoring that this incident is not related to or a result of wolf reintroduction efforts in Colorado. It’s also worth noting that the state has an existing depredation reimbursement fund for predation by other species that can be used for wolf depredation, and depredation reimbursement options specifically related to wolf reintroduction are currently being evaluated by both the technical advisory group and stakeholder advisory group working to develop reintroduction plan recommendations. More information on those discussions can be found in the meeting summaries posted here, and additional information on this immediate incident can be found here. 

 

The CSU Extension office has more on People & Predators on their website. 

Learning from Experience:  Using Western Ranchers’ Experience to Prepare for the Wolf’s Return to Colorado