By Shannon Lukens. (Pictured wolf is 2302 from the Five Points Pack. Photo courtesy Colorado Parks and Wildlife.)
The following statement was sent to Steamboat Radio News at 5:48 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 22.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) strictly followed the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan in the selection of the gray wolves reintroduced from multiple packs in Oregon. This plan was informed by Technical Working Group (TWG) experts and a Stakeholder Advisory Group (SAG) and unanimously adopted by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission.
It’s important to note that any wolves that have been near livestock will have some history of depredation, and this includes all packs in Oregon. This does not mean they have a history of chronic depredation (see Plan, page 27). If a pack has had infrequent depredation events, they should not be excluded as a source population per the plan.
There were two depredation events by members of the Five Points pack in July 2023. The state of Oregon has a Wolf Management Plan that details how to respond to livestock depredation and per the Plan, ODFW provided the producer with a lethal removal permit after they requested it. The producer’s agent lethally removed four wolves from the pack in early August. The pack has not depredated since.
CPW took multiple factors into account when deciding to bring in animals from the Five Points Pack as that particular pack has some history of depredations on livestock. Factors such as size of pack, previous removals from the pack, pack behavior after removals, and age of captured wolves were all considered. After removing the four animals this summer, the Five Points pack has not been involved in any depredations since. The change in pack behavior and the lack of current depredations met CPW criteria for accepting the animals.
CPW teams in Oregon passed on several larger and easier-to-access packs because they had recent depredation or had a chronic or ongoing depredation history.
Story by Miles Blumhardt from The Coloradoan — Ranchers riled after Colorado releases wolves from Oregon packs that killed livestock
ORIGINAL STORY —
Three of the five wolves released in Colorado Monday from Oregon have been part of packs that have killed livestock there this year.
The wolves were released in Grand County Monday, as part of Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program. They were from three Oregon packs: Five Points, Noregaard, and Wenaha.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife released this description of the five wolves reintroduced in Colorado:
2302-OR: Juvenile female, black color, 68 lbs., Five Points Pack
2303-OR: Juvenile male, gray color, 76 lbs. Five Points Pack
2304-OR: Juvenile female, gray color, 76 lbs., Noregaard Pack
2305-OR: Juvenile male, black color, 93 lbs., Noregaard Pack
2307-OR: Adult male, gray color, 108 lbs., Wenaha Pack
Oregon Fish & Wildlife has a list of Livestock Depredation Investigations for 2023.
Wolf Updates from Oregon Fish & Wildlife
These are screen shots from the Livestock Depredation Investigations list in Oregon. It is ten pages long.
The adult male that was released in Colorado is from the Wenaha Pack in Oregon. That pack in Oregon had a confirmed killing of a cow on Oct. 25 and the pack killed a calf on Sept. 18.
This is wolf 2303 from the Five Points Pack in Oregon, released in Grand County Monday. Photo courtesy Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Two wolf siblings released in Colorado are from the Five Points Pack in Oregon. The Livestock Depredation list from Oregon shows that that pack killed a calf and injured two others in July of this year.
We have asked for more information from Colorado Parks and Wildlife but have not heard back.
LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS RECEIVE WOLF UPDATE FROM CPW IN CRAIG MONDAY
This article from The Colorado Sun explains also explains Chronic Depredation and the 10J Rule.