Wolves kill four cattle yearlings, officials confirm
Wolves k illed several yearling c attle in northcentral Colorado this week, bringing the total number of wolf kills of livestock this month to six.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Thursday confirmed t hat wolves k illed three yearlings on a Grand County r anch M onday night or Tuesday morning. The carcasses were discovered W ednesday, agency spokesman Travis Duncan said in an email.
On Thursday, wildlife officials investigated a fourth yearling killed on the same property a nd d etermined the animal was killed by a wolf.
The wolves in the area at the time of the attacks were among the 10 wolves released in the state in December as part of a voter mandated re introduction effort to restore the predator to the Colorado landscape, Duncan said.
One of the wolves released in December killed a calf April 2 in Grand County.
A few days later, a wolf killed ac al fin Jackson County, which borders Grand County to the north.
The risk of wolves preying on livestock fueled strong opposition by ranchers to there introduction measure, which found most of its support f rom urban voters.
Owners o f livestock killed by wolves a re eligible for compensation from the state.
Wildlife o fficials t rack 12 k nown wolves in Colorado: the 10 introduced in December and two from a pack that established itself in Jackson County after migrating from Wyoming.
The wolves r eleased in December were s et l oose in Grand County and neighboring Summit County, but they h ave ranged w idely since then.
All 12 wolves have GPS collars that record the animals’ location every four hours, although one collar stopped f unctioning l ast month.