How the re-introduction of wolves is impacting Colorado

As part of efforts to save wolves from extinction, the animals have been re-introduced in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Some of the wolves have moved to Colorado of their own accord, and more are set to be released there soon. Michelle Miller takes us inside the debate.

#wolves #news #midwest

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[qmantexas]

Please re-introduce grizzly bears into LA.

[lukespack]

Large dogs used by ranchers can have a definitely positive effect on the cattle lost to wolves. Europeans have used guard dogs for years. Dogs like great pyrenees, anatolian shepherd, kuvasz and other livestock protectors.

[JakeLuke]

There are dog breeds that are specialists at protecting livestock from predators, wolves and cougars. Farmers and ranchers in Italy have been living with wolves forever and it works just fine.

[romaynecarlin]

as a colorado resident who voted to reintroduce the wolf here, examining the good and bad is very important. yes, there will be livestock kills and there are also ways to reduce/negate that. the wolf is not the bad guy here. the exorbitant urban growth with no thought of the natural inhabitants is to blame.

[coloradomallcrawlers]

I’m a railroader and saw my first wolf near Granby (Frasier Canyon) a few weeks ago. “Whoa, that’s a massive coyote!” Then he stopped and watched the train go and both of us in the cab said, “That’s a wolf, right?” I wish we had footage, but it was grey blue in color with long legs. Bigger than a husky or malamute so I’m pretty confident. We see a lot of awesome animals (lions, bears, lynx, bald eagles, moose, elk, ringtails), but I’m not going to lie, wolves make me slightly nervous to walk a train through 3ft of snow at night. I also believe we still occasionally get a Grizzly or two in Colorado, but that’s a debate I want to prove with video.

Edit: “lions” means mountain lions. My channel is called Colorado Mallcrawlers not African Mallcrawlers lol 😉

[jamesroof]

Wolves were reintroduced in 1995 in Yellowstone NP AND Bitterroot/Selway Wilderness in Idaho. Not just Yellowstone NP.

[oldmanrunsandrides]

The pros far outweigh the cons of having wolves back in their old historic territories.

[BeefyGordita]

I’ve lived in the Colorado Rockies my whole life and solo backpack regularly, and can tell you first hand that wolves have been “back” in Colorado for several years. Part of the state voting yes to reintroduce wolves, includes the allocation of funds to both monitor those wolf populations, as well as set up programs to reimburse farmers and blunt the wolf’s negative impacts during the transition.

The point is, even if Colorado voted no, the wolves were already coming south naturally as the wolf population grows and new food sources were needed, so at least now there are funds and oversight to help “curate” the populations.

All of that said, this conversation often skips over the benefits the wolves bring to an ecosystem, particularly one like Colorado with over an population of both deer and elk, which has detrimental effects of forest health and erosion. After a few years of wolf predation, a more manageable deer population will be unable to eat the majority of aspen saplings and our famous aspen groves will once again grow.

[brqxton]

As a Midwesterner, the decline of native wolf populations has caused raccoon and deer populations to get way out of control(coyotes see cow calves as easier targets and barely go after adult deer anymore)

[thechickenwizard]

Here's the solution to the predator conflict issue:

1: raise bison instead of cows, they're tougher and less vulnerable than cattle to predation, not to mention healthier to eat.

2: use guard dogs bred to protect livestock, or better yet get some donkeys for your herd.

We need more predators to keep our ecosystems stable, and coexistence is an important issue for us all to overcome

[culbinator]

Ranchers need to get protective dog breeds. I know it’s a new normal to deal with but we can have a world with both cattle ranching and wolves.

[davestagner]

Ranchers who lose livestock to wolves should be reimbursed for their losses. It seems like a reasonable expense to me. But as a bigger and better thing… let’s stop leasing public land to ranchers. Let’s give it back to the wolves.

[deanfirnatine]

My family ranches in Oregon, the boost in the wolf population has had zero effect on us, yes we have had wolves on the property, but we have VERY high deer, turkey and elk populations for them to eat. Our cattle have horns and are a larger breed, the wolves do not seem to bother them and we keep a substantial pack of very large dogs that seem to scare them off. I strongly suspect some ranchers are lying about wolf losses, none of the people responsible about writing reimbursement checks seem to check too much into it so there is less screaming by the ranching community also coyote predator losses seem to get blamed on wolves as well, so far the wolf population sadly has made a minimal dent in the coyote population around here which seems to be afraid of nothing, their packs use females to try to sucker our dogs off to be attacked. Maybe the coyotes will go away when the wolf pack around here gets bigger. I always found it odd fellow ranchers make such a giant stink over wolves like the world is ending yet just deal with the huge livestock losses from coyotes like it is no big deal.

[hans]

So many people on the earth is the problem.

[elrobo]

If you want to read a great book about Boulder Colorado and the effort to attract the deer to the park areas of Boulder that backfired with multiple deaths of humans. Read "the beast in the garden" by David Baron.

[ebr-fan]

Reintroduce them to Colorado's major cities where the voting population resides; as that is what they voted for.

[Croakin]

*adds a singular donkey to the herd*
*local wolf population dissapears*

There are ways to control animals outside of shooting them

[ncubesays]

As a Zimbabwean who lives near a wildlife rich area, what I find interesting in this report is the empathy shown towards the ranchers. It's rare for Western media to afford the same attitude when discussing human elephant conflict in my local area.

[e.c-s]

How about using Pyrenees or other dogs or donkeys?

[Ethan-umcp]

3 Great Pyrenese on that dudes tiny plot would be very effective. I have family with 8000 acres, and predatory kills are insignificant with 5 LGDs.