Colorado citizens approved a hotly debated ballot measure that would permit the release of wolves in the state. When the legalities were finished and the plan finalized wolves began to be released last December. The state has released 10 of a proposed 50 wolves in the project. So far, the new Colorado wolves are roaming widely. That is according to the results of a tracking map that uses the collars on the wolves to pinpoint their location.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has created the map and the data is open to the public. The proposal to reintroduce wolves in the state was popular with a majority of state residents. Strong opposition remains, however. Opposition is strongest among those who raise livestock for a living.
According to CPW:
“Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Collared Gray Wolf Activity Map will help inform the public, recreationists and livestock producers on where wolves have been in the past 30 days or so. This map will be updated with new information on a monthly basis, produced on the fourth Wednesday of every month, and will reflect data for the prior month, give or take several days. “
The map cannot show exactly where wolves are, CPW said, nor where they are going. It is a generalized picture of their range. Currently all of the wolves in the project are collared. Wolves do enter the state from neighboring states. These wolves will not have collars. As time passes and litters are delivered the proportion of collared wolves will drop. This will decrease the accuracy of the map, CPW said.
A majority of Coloradans approved the idea. Urban residents tend to support wolf re-introduction and outnumber rural residents who often hate wolves. Some even poison them.
Wolves have been killed in Oregon, California and even Italy. Police have investigated and rewards have been offered. It remains difficult to catch the killers. The debate is frequently about livestock losses. Wolves do kill and eat people’s livestock livelihood. Payment for slaughtered livestock is usually offered. The problem is that there is frequently little left of the slain cow, goat or sheep. It is also difficult to determine if they were killed by wolves or died of another cause. Stock owners often complain that the compensation process is often cumbersome and slow.