Ranchers in one state are prepared to shoot gray wolves on site if they cross the state line.
On December 18, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) released five gray wolves in Grand County, Colorado, as part of its Final Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, which proposed reintroducing and managing gray wolves in the state no later than December 31. Several days later, CPW released five more wolves, meaning that 10 now roam throughout the state.
The wolves were released on designated lands but are prone to wandering, which prompted fears from ranchers in nearby states that their livestock could soon become prey.
Some states like Utah, New Mexico and Arizona, have an agreement with Colorado to capture and return the wolves to Colorado if they are found across state lines. It's illegal to kill wolves in those states. Ranchers in Wyoming, however, prefer a different tactic. The state offers a shoot-on-site policy that permits ranchers to kill the wolves.
"On the positive side, if any of those wolves cross over into Wyoming, they're no longer protected. They're classified as predators and they can be removed," Jim Magagna, sheep rancher and executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, told Cowboy State Daily.
However, CPW public information supervisor Travis Duncan told Newsweek that CPW is working closely with ranchers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to recommend strategies for ranchers to deter wolves from their land.
Some of the strategies include physical barriers and utilizing guard animals. However, the effort doesn't guarantee livestock protection. If Colorado livestock are killed, CPW will reimburse the owner.
"If a depredation incident is confirmed by CPW, livestock owners can be reimbursed the fair market value of the animal, up to $15,000, which is one of the most generous in the country," Duncan said.
CPW also can track and locate the wolves because they wear GPS collars.
A study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that less than 4 percent of cattle deaths were caused by wolves. The study examined the thousands of cattle deaths caused by predators in 2010, which represented 5.5 percent of all cattle deaths and triggered a $98.5 million loss. Wolf-caused deaths were highest in Wisconsin at the time, when wolves accounted for 48 percent of cattle losses by predators. In Wyoming, wolves accounted for nearly 19 percent. No cases of cattle killed by wolves were documented in Colorado or Utah.
Gray wolves once thrived in Colorado, but humans eradicated the species in the 1940s. Wolves have since returned to the state over the past 10 years after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service worked to restore the species in Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Arizona. Some of those wolves migrated to Colorado.
The wolves are considered endangered in the Centennial State. They will be down-listed to "state threatened" once wildlife officials document at least 50 wolves anywhere in the state for four consecutive years, the CPW said.
Uncommon Knowledge
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