Wildlife officials in Colorado have released an additional five gray wolves in the state, bringing the total so far under a voter-approved reintroduction program to 10.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife in a statement Friday said its team had completed an agreement to capture 10 gray wolves in Oregon for release in Colorado as part of an effort to restore a permanent population there. No additional captures or releases are planned for the rest of this year, KCNC TV reported.
The agency said it would “continue working to source additional animals until up to 15 wolves have been reintroduced in Colorado by mid-March 2024.”
The first five gray wolves from Oregon were released Dec. 18 in Colorado in an event joined by Gov. Jared Polis. Colorado Parks and Wildlife said details of “release events” for the next five wolves were not widely shared to protect the wolves and their location and agency staff. However, the agency said the releases occurred on state-owned lands in Colorado’s Grand and Summit counties.
The fact that ranchers are throwing a shit-fit over 10-15 wolves is pretty amusing to me. I’m sure plenty of ranchers here in Indiana would throw fits too, but if we had wolves like we used to, people wouldn’t constantly be running into deer. I don’t think there’s ever been a day I’ve gone on a highway or interstate around here that I didn’t see a dead deer by the side of the road. And then there’s the problem of the deer eating everything and half of them starving to death. The “solution” the state has come up with is hunting. I have no problem with hunting. I like venison. But it is not a viable solution to the problem.
I don’t really know much about gray wolf breeding and population habits…but 10-15 wolves released over the course of 3 years seems kind of really small?
Higher up the food chain, needs more food
Go wolves!
