Since Colorado began reintroducing wolves in late 2023, many people thought it would be a matter of when, not if, some of those wolves strayed into Wyoming, where they would likely be killed.
The “when” turned out to be March 15.
USDA Wildlife Services reported that on that day, their agents killed a wolf in north-central Wyoming that had traveled from Colorado and attacked sheep on private property.
Some Wyomingites said the incident came as no surprise to them, and they don’t think it foretells any major problems or policy changes in the Cowboy State.
However, a Colorado wolf advocate told Cowboy State Daily that if the loss of that wolf in Wyoming turns into a trend, it could hurt her state’s wolf recovery program.
‘I Don’t Think It’s Any Big Deal’
Avid hunter Buzz Hettick of Laramie told Cowboy State Daily that wolves crossing over the Wyoming-Colorado state line is likely nothing new.
“I think there’s already been an exchange of wolves between Colorado and Wyoming anyway. I don’t think it’s any big deal,” said Hettick, co-chair of the Wyoming chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers.
Wolves, grizzly bears and other large predators have been expanding their ranges all over the country, Hettick said.
“Those animals don’t recognize any boundaries,” he said.
Rumors of wolves crossing between Wyoming and Colorado have circulated for years. And there was at least one previous verified case.
In 2019, before Colorado launched its wolf reintroduction program, at least one female Wyoming wolf crossed into Colorado.
That wolf joined a male, thought to have also come from Wyoming. Together, they formed the North Park pack.
That pack was active for about two years until it disintegrated, likely because some of its members crossed back into Wyoming and were shot.
Two survivors from that pack, both males, are thought to still be in Colorado.
No Change In Policy For Wyoming
Hettick said that from Wyoming’s perspective, last Saturday’s incident with the wolf from Colorado isn’t likely to prompt any change in policy.
In Wyoming, wolves are fully protected within the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park. In some areas adjacent to the park, they may be hunted only with licenses and during set hunting seasons.
Across the rest of the state — including along the entire state line with Colorado —wolves may be shot on sight at any time, with no license required.
That’s also likely the case in the “north-central” Wyoming area where the wolf was killed by Wildlife Services, although officials didn’t release any specifics about the location.
Wyoming’s primary interest when it comes to wolves is to maintain enough of a population that there won’t be any chance of wolves being placed back under endangered species protection, Hettick said.
Wyoming has successfully done that for years. The possibility of a few wolves crossing over from Colorado and being killed here probably won’t change that, he said.
Wyoming Ranchers On The Lookout
There likewise shouldn’t be any surprise among Wyoming’s ranchers that a Colorado wolf ended up here, said Jim Magagna. executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Grower’s Association.
“The only part that was sort of a surprise is how far into Wyoming the wolf apparently made it,” he told Cowboy State Daily.
Wolves are known to travel great distances.
In 2014, a female wolf from the Yellowstone area was spotted on the outskirts of Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, according to reports at the time.
Biologists say that such long-distance trekkers are almost always young wolves that break away from established packs to go seek mates and possibly start packs of their own.
With a wolf coming from Colorado and attacking sheep, ranchers will likely have their eyes peeled, Magagna said.
“I think that as Colorado gets more wolves, there might be more crossing into Wyoming,” he said. “It’s a concern because that means more wolves attacking livestock.”
However, like Hettick, Magagna doesn’t think the incident warrants any change in Wyoming’s wolf management policy.
“The fact that they happen to come from Colorado isn’t going to change how we deal with them in Wyoming,” he said.
Concerned About Wyoming’s ‘Lethal Control’
Wolf advocate Samanta Miller of Grand County in north-central Colorado told Cowboy State Daily that she is concerned about how losing wolves to Wyoming could affect Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program.
“I think the use of lethal control for wolves in Wyoming is a concern,” she said, because Colorado’s population of wolves too small to afford many losses.
Miller is the senior carnivore campaigner with the Center of Biological Diversity.
Grand County is where Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) released the first 10 reintroduced wolves, brought in from Oregon in December 2023.
The wolf killed Friday in Wyoming was a male from the second reintroduced batch of 15 wolves, which were transported in January from British Columbia, Canada.
There have been some gains and losses to Colorado’s wolf population. Two of the wolves from Oregon paired up and had a litter of pups.
But some of the adult Colorado wolves died, including in fights with other wolves —and in one case with a mountain lion.
The last official count put Colorado’s wolf population at 29, so the death of the male in Wyoming would leave 28.
Miller said she hopes that in some instances, “non-lethal deterrents” could be used to discourage wolves from attacking livestock in Wyoming, as they have been used in some instances in Colorado.
“I hope we can work with the Wyoming Game and Fish and the federal Wildlife Services for better outcomes,” Miller said.
Send Wolves Back?
The question of whether Colorado wolves that venture into Wyoming could be sent back remains open.
Colorado wildlife officials had little to say on the matter.
“CPW does not comment on wildlife movements, operations or regulations in other states,” Travis Duncan, the agency’s public information supervisor, wrote in an email to Cowboy State Daily on Friday. “CPW does not have an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with Wyoming regarding the recapture of wolves.”
Outdoorsman Nate Miller of Thermopolis, who has hunted wolves in Wyoming, told Cowboy State Daily that Wyoming already has plenty of wolves, as far as he’s concerned.
He mused about whether Colorado and Wyoming could help each other out.
“We can let them come up and catch one to replace it (the wolf from Colorado that was killed) instead of getting them from British Columbia,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
