Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) announced this week that it has killed three yearling wolves in three separate counties. Two wolves were killed on Monday in Pitkin and Rio Blanco counties, with another in Grand County on Wednesday. These recent deaths bring the total number of wolves killed to 20 since reintroduction efforts began in 2023, a program initiated by voters through Proposition 114.
The kills come as the agency reports a rising number of livestock depredations across the state. The three yearling wolves killed this week were among the initial 10 wolves brought to Colorado from Oregon; six of these 10 have now died from various causes. An additional 15 wolves were brought from British Columbia in January 2025, and seven of those have also died. The remaining wolves in the state include yearlings born to mating pairs, such as the Copper Creek Pack based in Pitkin County, which lost one of the yearlings killed this week.
Since April, over three dozen livestock have been killed by wolves, including 21 since July 1. CPW has confirmed roughly 115 livestock kills since depredation tracking began in 2024, although ranchers maintain the actual toll is higher. The Copper Creek Pack alone is believed responsible for dozens of livestock kills in Grand and Pitkin counties. CPW now acknowledges that "coexistence" sometimes requires killing wolves that repeatedly prey on livestock.
The wolf reintroduction program, which passed by a narrow margin in 2020, received overwhelming support from urban and suburban counties, overriding concerns from rural areas directly affected by the program. Samantha Miller with the Center for Biological Diversity voiced concerns about the ongoing wolf killings, noting that Colorado has few wolves left and no additional reintroductions are planned.
Delia Malone, an ecologist with Colorado Wild, referred to CPW's actions as a "state-sanctioned killing" and suggested that ranchers should use "tools to prevent conflict." Similarly, Delaney Rudy of the Western Watersheds Project stated that CPW appears "more committed to doing ranchers’ bidding than to endangered species recovery."
In response to the growing conflict, U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has been tasked with a 90-day review to determine if gray and Mexican wolves should be removed from the Endangered Species Act protections. U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who represents ranchers across her district, praised this order as "real progress," arguing that Colorado producers should not have their hands tied by federal restrictions while wolves endanger their herds.
Last December, Boebert’s Pet and Livestock Protection Act (H.R. 845), which would direct Secretary Burgum to remove gray wolf protections under the Endangered Species Act, passed the House but has since stalled in the U.S. Senate. This federal intervention is significant because wolves in six other Rocky Mountain states—Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and parts of Oregon, Washington, and Utah—are managed without federal restrictions, giving ranchers in those areas more flexibility to protect their properties and livestock compared to Colorado ranchers.