YOUR AD HERE »

CPW finds no evidence of wolves near Meeker, where 40 cattle have been found dead inexplicably

Dylan Anderson Steamboat Pilot and Today

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials have little explanation for why as many as 40 cattle near Meeker have shown up dead in recent months in a situation described as “perplexing” to the agency’s governing board this month.

While wolves were an early target for blame, CPW’s Northwest Regional Director Travis Black said just “a handful” of the dead cattle have any signs that could be consistent with a wolf attack, there was no sign of feeding, and they haven’t found any evidence of wolves in the area.

“It’s perplexing; it’s confusing; it’s frustrating, trying to figure out exactly what occurred in this incident,” Black told the CPW Commission on Nov. 17. “We have no evidence of wolves in that area. That doesn’t mean they are not there.



“We’re going to continue to work with the livestock producer to investigate this,” he continued. “In time, we may find other evidence to help support one way or another.”

The livestock deaths come as CPW has been working to craft a plan to re-introduce wolves in Colorado by the end of next year after voters narrowly approved bringing the killed-off carnivore back to the state in 2020. That plan will be presented to the CPW Commission on Dec. 9.



Initial reports from early October blamed wolves for the death of 18 calves on White River National Forest land where cattle were grazing, which, if confirmed, would have meant there was another wolf pack making a return to Colorado ahead of schedule.

But, Black said trail cameras, howling surveys, and aerial flights haven’t located any trace of wolves — “We have no tracks.”

Rancher Lenny Klinglesmith told The Fence Post in October that all 18 of those calves had “trauma indicative of a wolf-pack killing,” but Black said the investigation has only found “injuries, some contusions, some hemorrhaging that were somewhat consistent with wolf depredation,” on as many as five calves.

As more cattle were gathered from the range, Black said more were found dead, though few of the 40 show signs of wolf killing, and there was no sign of wolves feeding on any of the dead animals.

He said they consulted with a veterinarian to see if there was a health component causing the deaths such as Clostridium bacteria, which he said can be exacerbated by the presence of wolves. But, reviews by Colorado State University and Texas A&M University didn’t turn up much evidence for that either.

“We’re scratching our heads,” he said.

This case differs from the wolf pack in North Park near Walden because that case had evidence of feeding, making it easy to jump to conclusions, Black said. That pack killed several cattle and attacked two dogs last winter, though CPW suspects three of those wolves were killed legally in Wyoming since.

“What we’re lacking (in the Meeker case), in my opinion, is that typical feeding behavior that we would see … typically, wolves would come back and feed on a carcass,” he said.

CPW hoped that more evidence of wolves near Meeker would have surfaced during hunting season, as there are more folks out in the woods, but that hasn’t been the case. There have been a handful of livestock predation reports in the area, but none of them appear to be wolves, Black said.

He said they would continue to investigate and admitted it can take time to find evidence of wolves.

“We’re trying not to jump to conclusions here,” he said.

Several speakers in public comment pointed toward the Meeker case as why any livestock re-imbursement program established when wolves are officially re-introduced in Colorado needs to be broad, and account for cattle indirectly killed by wolves.

Reid DeWalt, CPW’s assistant director of aquatic, terrestrial, and natural resources, said issues like livestock compensation are addressed in the plan, which will be presented to the CPW Commission in a webinar on Dec. 9 at 8:30 a.m. That webinar will be live streamed on YouTube, and the plan will be available to the public for comment.

As for North Park, DeWalt said CPW continues to see wolves in the area, though there are a lot of indications that three wolves killed in Wyoming were members of that pack. The wolves killed legally were all a year and a half old, black females without a tracking collar, he said.

“There will be all kinds of twists and turns in this story, and this is just one of those,” he said.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Glenwood Springs and Garfield County make the Post Independent’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.