Colorado wildlife officials confirmed the wolf depredation after a landowner found the dead calf Tuesday morning.
GRAND COUNTY, Colo. — A calf found dead Tuesday morning in Grand County was killed by a wolf, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW).
CPW said it received a report Tuesday after a landowner contacted officers to report the dead calf. Wildlife officers conducted a field investigation and confirmed a wolf depredation had occurred, CPW said in a news release.
“The results of this investigation indicated wounds consistent with wolf depredation,” said CPW area wildlife manager Jeromy Huntington in the release. “The field investigation found multiple tooth rake marks on the calf’s hindquarters and neck, and hemorrhaging under the hide, consistent with wolf depredation. Wolf tracks were also found nearby.”
The landowner will the eligible for compensation after submitting a claim. CPW said.
Ten gray wolves were released in Grand and Summit counties in mid-December in accordance with a voter-approved reintroduction program. In addition, Colorado wildlife officials collared two wolves in Jackson County after wolves dispersed to that area on their own in 2021.
CPW would not identify which wolf killed the calf. This is the first confirmed livestock depredations in the state since reintroduction.
CPW tracks wolves in the state and releases a monthly report on their movements. The most recent report that covered Feb. 28 through March 25 showed wolf activity in watersheds across the northwestern part of the state.
The report noted that one of the wolves captured in Oregon and released in Colorado no longer has a functioning collar but that the wolf travels with another wolf that does have a functioning collar. Another wolf’s collar is partly functional, CPW said.
RELATED: 5 more wolves released in Colorado
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