Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has confirmed a wolf killed a cow in Jackson County earlier this month.

CPW received a report of a possible depredation incident in Jackson County on Feb. 5. A CPW wildlife officer responded and conducted a field investigation, finding injuries consistent with wolf depredation on the cow. The wildlife officer concluded that the cow was killed by a wolf. CPW has not identified the wolf’s origin at this time.

The agency believes that the depredation was committed by an uncollared wolf not part of the Colorado reintroduction effort. CPW reached this conclusion because no collared wolf data are present in the area. There are functioning GPS collars on all reintroduced wolves and two wolves that moved into Colorado from Wyoming in 2021. CPW also confirmed that the uncollared fifth pup from the Copper Creek Pack was in another location during the depredation.

According to CPW, the likelihood of pairing, breeding, and pack formation will increase as the population of wolves in Colorado grows. This will allow CPW to monitor patterns within a territory and improve their ability to work with ranchers on strategies to protect livestock. As the wolf population grows, CPW said its goal is to have at least two active collars per pack.

CPW also said that field staff informs local area producers when wolves are spending time in an area and works to establish site assessments to identify and deploy deterrence measures. The agency will increasingly rely on public reports of wolf sightings as populations grow across the state.

Steamboat Radio reported on Feb. 14 that the cow killed in Jackson County was pregnant, and that the same rancher lost a working dog to a wolf in March, 2023.

Find more information on wolf depredations at CPW’s Confirmed Gray Wolf Depredation web page and more about the wolf reintroduction effort here.