JACKSON COUNTY, Colo. — An uncollared gray wolf close to the Wyoming border in Jackson County has killed a cow, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) confirmed on Saturday morning.
All wolves that CPW has reintroduced in Colorado have GPS collars, meaning this wolf does not appear to be one of the translocated animals from the 2023 or 2025 wolf releases. No collared wolf data is currently present in that North Park area of Jackson County, CPW said.
The kill has been confirmed on CPW's wolf depredation tracker.
The rancher, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Steamboat Radio that CPW agents came out to the property — which is about 10 miles from the Wyoming border — and confirmed a wolf had killed a cow. On Saturday, CPW echoed this in a press release, saying the field investigation found injuries consistent with a wolf depredation.
"CPW damage specialists are working with the producer and neighboring producers to ensure they have the non-lethal conflict mitigation tools that best meet their operational needs and reduce the likelihood of future conflict," CPW said in the press release. "... When it is known, CPW field staff inform local area producers when wolves are spending time in an area and work to establish site assessments to identify and deploy deterrence measures. Wolves without collars make this challenging, and relying on signs (scat, prints, etc.) becomes more important."
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The kill happened in early February, the rancher said, adding that it was a pregnant cow. He took photos of it and then reported it to CPW on Feb. 5. A wildlife officer conducted the investigation on-site that day. After bringing in outside agencies, the officer concluded it was indeed a wolf kill, and then notified the landowner, CPW said.
The rancher told Steamboat Radio that he is in the process of filing a claim. He said wolves also killed one of his working dogs in 2023. He filed a claim for the dog and received $15K, but stressed he has documentation showing the dog was worth $50K.
If CPW biologists confirm a wolf depredation, the compensation program — as outlined in the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan — will pay for 100% of fair market value compensation, up to $15,000 per animal.
Want to learn more about Colorado's wolf reintroduction? You can explore the timeline below, which outlines all of Denver7's coverage since the very beginning. The timeline starts with our most recent story.
Colorado has seen wolves come into the state from Wyoming on multiple occasions over the years.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department monitors its wolves mostly with telemetry collars, but typically just a few in each pack are collared. That way, the state can monitor the entire pack, which usually stays together.
Wyoming allows wolf hunting within season in a handful of management areas. In Colorado, gray wolves are protected by the Endangered Species Act, and it is illegal to kill them without federal authorization. Penalties for illegal shooting of wolves in Colorado vary, but can include fines up to $100,000, jail time and loss of hunting privileges, CPW said.
“I know they’re around," the rancher told Steamboat Radio of the wolves. "We’ve seen the uncollared wolves before. In the back, we found a collar and a tag, just on the northwest end of the ranch, a wolf collar, so we’ve known they’ve been around. Again, I’m not sure why we’re spending money reintroducing wolves when they’re already here."
As mandated by voters in 2020, CPW released 10 gray wolves in Grand County and Summit County in December 2023. Of those 10, seven have survived, which is typical for wild wolf mortality rates. Two had five pups, though the adult male of that pack died. The year 2024 ended with 12 known reintroduced wolves, plus two that had traveled into the state from Wyoming in 2021, both of which are collared.
In January 2025, CPW captured 15 gray wolves in Canada and released them in Eagle and Pitkin counties, bringing the total of known wolves in the state to 29.
On Thursday, CPW said it confirmed a scat sample in northwest Moffat County tested positive for wolf DNA, indicating an uncollared wolf on the landscape. CPW told Denver7 there is no indication this is the wolf pup from the Copper Creek Pack that was not captured during the efforts to relocate that pack, and this wolf was not believed to be involved in the Jackson County kill. It is not clear where this wolf came from.
Adding in the wolf involved in the recent Jackson County depredation means the total number of known wolves in the state is 31.
CPW is investigating, but has not confirmed, an additional wolf in the Browns Park area in far northwest Colorado, officials said during a CPW Commission meeting in early January.
