Parks and Wildlife confirms second livestock depredation by wolves occurred in Jackson County
Sky-Hi News
Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed that a wolf or wolves killed another calf in Colorado — this time in Jackson County.
This marks the second depredation in a week. The first happened April 2 in Grand County.
On Sunday morning, wildlife officials responded to a depredation event in the area known as North Park and found a dead calf. It had injuries consistent with wolf depredation. This included a partially consumed hindquarter.
During their field investigation, officials also found partial wolf tracks in the same area, according to a news release from Parks and Wildlife.
The release stated that the agency “is aware of four wolves in the area and these included wolves that were released in December 2023 and a wolf or wolves with known territory in North Park.”
Two wolves are known to roam the North Park area who naturally migrated from Wyoming. The North Park wolves have a history of livestock depredation — their last confirmed kill was in November 2023.
At this time, Parks and Wildlife states that it will not release the specific location or the specific wolves involved in the depredation.
“Identifying the wolf or wolves potentially involved could allow someone to determine the specific location of those animals,” Parks and Wildlife stated.
About Parks and Wildlife’s wolf management plan
The producer who lost the calf will be entitled to the fair market value of the animal if a claim is submitted, as laid out in their management’s plan compensation program.
The agency stated it is working with the Colorado Department of Agriculture and to build “the capacity to anticipate and prepare for predator livestock incidents.” Currently, the two agencies are prepared to bring in range riders in the coming weeks, along with other tools to help ranchers with non-lethal deterrence.
Range riders are boot-on-the-ground individuals who peruse the landscape on horseback to proactively manage livestock and search for signs of predators.

Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism
Readers around Steamboat and Routt County make the Steamboat Pilot & Today’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.
Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.
Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.