UPDATE: This story has been updated to add more information, including that the wolf was killed in north-central Wyoming, had killed five sheep on private land and was put down by USDA Wildlife Services.
One of the wolves that was transplanted from British Columbia, Canada, to Colorado in January was killed Friday after apparently killing sheep on private property in north-central Wyoming.
The wolf was killed late that day, after U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Service agents responded to a report of sheep being killed by wolves, agency spokeswoman Tanya Espinosa confirmed in an email to Cowboy State Daily.
“On March 15, USDA’s Wildlife Services responded to a sheep predation event on private lands in north-central Wyoming,” Espinosa wrote. “Evidence, consistent with wolf depredation was observed at the site, including wolf tracks, struggle sites, carcasses with premortem hemorrhaging, and bite marks consistent with known wolf predations.”
Overall, the agency says five adult sheep were killed, including one that had been “heavily fed upon,” by an adult wolf. Late that day, Wildlife Services “removed a wolf at the predation location.”
After the wolf was killed, it was discovered the wolf “had a collar from Colorado Parks and Wildlife,” Espinosa added. “Wyoming Game and Fish returned the wolf and the collar to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.”
Colorado Confirms Wolf Was Theirs
Colorado wildlife officials confirmed that the wolf had come from that state.
“CPW (Colorado Parks and Wildlife) biologists received a mortality alert for male gray wolf 2505-BC this past weekend, March 16. The agency has confirmed the mortality took place in north-central Wyoming,” according to a statement from CPW.
“The United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in Wyoming was conducting livestock depredation mitigation in response to multiple livestock losses in Wyoming,” the agency reported. “CPW does not comment on wildlife movements, operations or regulations in other states. Any questions or additional information should be directed to Wildlife Services.”
Wyoming Game and Fish spokeswoman Amanda Fry also told Cowboy State Daily that “the incident was handled by USDA Wildlife Services,” and that Game and Fish couldn’t provide any more details.
Wolf Was One Of The B.C. Transplants
Colorado resident John Michael Williams, who runs the Colorado Wolf Tracker Facebook page, told Cowboy State Daily that at least one of his page’s regular contributors had received an email from CPW with the agency’s statement about the wolf’s death.
The statement confirmed that the dead wolf was among those brought in from British Columbia in January for the second round of Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program.
Colorado wolf reintroduction began in late 2023, with the release of wolves brought in from Oregon.
“2505-BC was part of the group of wolves translocated to Colorado from British Columbia and came from areas where there is no overlap between wolves and livestock. Wolves are known to travel long distances to find food or mates, including into other states,” according to CPW’s statement.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
