Colorado wolf survival rate is the latest proof that this reintroduction program is not exactly a glowing progress report. Colorado Politics reporter Marianne Goodland lays out the newest death in the program: the female of the King Mountain pack mating pair is dead, bringing the tally to 14 dead wolves out of the 25 transplanted into Colorado so far. That leaves the program with a survival rate of 44 percent, which is the kind of number that would get a private sector manager fired before lunch.
Goodland also notes that this is not some isolated bump in the road. The male of that same mating pair had already died in January after a botched collaring operation in Routt County, and the state still does not know, or is not saying, what killed the female. On top of that, the article details livestock depredation, a suspended hunt for another problem wolf, and more than $724,000 already paid or approved in compensation to ranchers dealing with the fallout. So yes, the wolves are dying, the livestock are dying, and the taxpayers are paying. But other than that, brilliant plan.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Colorado brought in 25 wolves from Oregon and British Columbia. Fourteen are now dead. That is a 44 percent survival rate, which is well below the 70 percent threshold in the state’s own management plan that triggers a closer look at the effort. Turns out ballot-box biology is not a science, it is a feelings-based group project.
- The female from the King Mountain pack is the latest death. Her mate already died after a botched collaring operation by a contractor, which wolf advocates themselves criticized. Nothing says careful wildlife restoration quite like bargain-bin execution and a necropsy to be named later.
- One yearling from the Copper Creek pack was killed by wildlife staff after preying on multiple sheep in Rio Blanco County. Another problem wolf tied to repeated livestock attacks is still out there after drones, thermal imaging, and a month-long search came up empty. High-tech scavenger hunt, paid for by people who did not vote for this mess.
- The remaining collared wolves are spreading farther south and east, including toward Pueblo County and the San Luis Valley. So the state is not exactly containing some neat little experiment. It is widening the footprint and hoping the folks on the ground just learn to enjoy chaos.
- Colorado has paid more than $724,000 in compensation to ranchers for wolf-related losses and impacts, and the claims for 2025 topped $1 million according to agency officials. Meanwhile, wolf advocates are pushing to restrict compensation for indirect losses. That is the classic move: sell the promise, create the damage, then try to yank back the reimbursement once the bill comes due.
My Bottom Line
This is exactly why I keep hammering this story. Not because Weld County is ground zero, and not because I need a hobby, but because this whole wolf debacle is a perfect case study in how Colorado gets governed now. A handful of urban activists with soft hands and hard opinions impose a fantasy on rural communities, then act shocked when reality shows up wearing muddy boots.
The people who actually understand livestock, land management, animal behavior, and the cost of bad public policy were warning about this from the jump. They were told to hush up and let the enlightened people handle it. Well, here we are. Producers are taking losses. Taxpayers are footing the bill. State agencies are stumbling around trying to clean up a mess they were politically forced to make. Even the wolves are getting chewed up by the stupidity. Different clowns, same circus.
And let’s be honest about the cruelty here. The marketing pitch for this boondoggle was that it was compassionate, balanced, and noble. But what has it delivered? Dead livestock, dead wolves, stressed cattle, drained public dollars, and a government compensation scheme that still does not make ranchers whole. That is not compassion. That is arrogance with a press release.
This is what happens when policy gets written by people who think nature is a Disney movie and agriculture is something you post about between yoga classes. Common Sense Colorado said this was a bad idea because it was a bad idea. Facts over fan clubs. The people in the Denver-Boulder bubble got the emotional satisfaction of passing their fashionable cause, and everybody else got the invoice.
Source: Colorado Politics
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