A Colorado commission voted Wednesday to continue with the state’s reintroduction of grey wolves, despite a citizen petition concerned over cattle deaths.
The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission voted 10-1 to adopt a staff recommendation to continue wolf introduction, negating a petition from ranchers and farmers expressing concerns about the apex predator’s threat to their cattle.
Colorado began reintroducing wolves to the state in 2023, following a ballot initiative calling for the wolves, who were wiped out of Colorado in the 1940s. An initial introduction of 10 wolves to the western part of the state led to a number of cattle deaths, causing outcry from ranchers.
The petition, filed by 26 organizations representing farmers and ranchers, asked that the state pause implementation of the wolf program in order to evaluate ways to deal with “chronic depredation,” the repeated killing of cattle by one wolf or a single pack of wolves. The state is set to release another 15 wolves from British Columbia into northwest Colorado beginning this month.
