Stephanie Butzer joined the Denver7 team as a digital producer in June 2018, became the senior digital producer in February 2023 and as of December 2023, is the team's executive producer.
DENVER — Colorado Parks and Wildlife has started an operation to capture and relocate the wolves from the Copper Creek Pack, which have been behind multiple depredations since wolves were reintroduced in the state in December.
On Tuesday evening, CPW announced this process was already underway, with technical support from its federal partners. The decision came after careful consideration and feedback from various stakeholders, said CPW Director Jeff Davis.”Our options in this unique case were very limited, and this action is by no means a precedent for how CPW will resolve wolf-livestock conflict moving forward,' he continued. 'The ultimate goal of the operation is to relocate the pack to another location while we assess our best options for them to continue to contribute to the successful restoration of wolves in Colorado.”The Copper Creek Pack, named in June, is made up of at least one breeding pair and three pups. A wolf pack is established once a pair reproduces, and that was confirmed on June 18 after CPW biologists spotted a single wolf pup at a den site in Grand County. The Copper Creek Pack is the first confirmed wolf pack in Colorado since the reintroduction in December.The wolf pups were recently captured in a video — the first to be shared publicly — and state officials said all of the young animals appeared to be healthy.The exact details surrounding when and how CPW plans to capture the wolf pack, and where they will plan to relocate them, is not yet clear and in response to follow-up questions from Denver7, CPW said it will release more information at a later time. To protect the animals, CPW is not sharing exact details of where the pack is located, however during last week's CPW Commission meeting, CPW assistant director Reid DeWalt said the main issue with depredation continues to be with that breeding pair in Middle Park. 'We continue to work with that situation for solutions and opportunities for improvements,' he said Friday. 'We have had depredations from a few other wolves, but nothing to the level we've seen in Middle Park.'CPW investigated a few other depredations from wolves, but 'nothing at the level we saw in Middle Park,' he said on Friday morning. To better understand wolf depredations, CPW hired five predator damage conflict specialists who will focus on wolves, but also black bears and mountain lions. Throughout the planning process and implementation of the wolf reintroduction project, CPW has worked with wildlife biologists, federal partners and livestock producers — something that will continue throughout the process. As of Tuesday evening, 24 animals — sheep, calves and cows — had been injured or killed by wolves since the December 2023 release. These incidents happened in Jackson County, Grand County and Routt County. The most recent involved eight sheep in Grand County on July 28. Currently, Colorado is home to 11 known adult wolves — nine that were introduced in December and two that moved into Colorado previously — and three pups.The wolf reintroduction was mandated by voters in 2020. In May 2023, the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan was finalized after years of meetings and discussions with community members. By the end of the year, 10 wolves had been released in Grand and Summit counties.They have since spread to various watersheds in the state, as illustrated in the latest gray wolf activity map below. The map is updated on the fourth Wednesday of every month here, so an updated version is expected within 24 hours of publishing time. The wolves have not moved south of Interstate 70 as of the time of the below map's publication. The next wolf reintroduction is set to begin this winter somewhere in the northern zone, which is outlined in the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan. It is the upper oval in the map below. CPW encourages the public to report any wolf sightings, especially with photos or videos. To submit one, visit CPW.info/wolf-sighting.Read the full wolf restoration and management plan below or here.
Colorado Wolves Cales Colorado Wolves Calves Colorado Wolves Capture Colorado Wolves Cows Colorado Wolves Deaths Colorado Wolves Depredations Colorado Wolves Kills Colorado Wolves Livestock Colorado Wolves Moving
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