When Colorado Parks and Wildlife captured a family of wolves in August 2024, the agency left one behind. At that point, the pup, known as wolf 2404, was still primarily dependent on his parents for food. With the family gone, the odds were against the pup’s survival.
But survive he did. A year later, he had survived a winter alone despite insufficient training on how to hunt. He was suspected of killing sheep on public land, and CPW launched an effort to kill the wolf pup that it had previously orphaned and left for dead. The agency shot the wolf and found DNA indicating that this was the lost wolf.
Given that it had been shot with a high-powered rifle and had lost bone fragments from the bullet wound, wolf 2404 was then presumed dead.
But, again, he defied the odds. Later, CPW realized he was still alive. CPW and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services office made repeated attempts to complete their mission to kill.
In mid-March, CPW called off the search, citing the difficulty of tracking the wolf. Some are celebrating the apparent survival of the wolf, which many are calling “Freedom.”
Some say Freedom lives, and that might be true. It’s also true that the prolonged pursuit of this animal symbolizes the entire wolf-reintroduction program. Wolf reintroduction, which reflects good biology and the will of the people, has been vigorously demonized and persecuted from the beginning.
The ranching industry has portrayed wolf reintroduction as an existential threat. While it is true that some wolves have killed cows, calves and sheep, ranchers have been amply compensated. A look at wolf predation compensation programs in other states suggests that Colorado’s compensation is generous, as it covers both losses directly attributable to wolves as well as “indirect” losses, i.e. weight loss or reduced conception rates, which could also be caused by other factors.
Reality check: There are more than 2.5 million cattle in Colorado, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports. A USDA report shows that Colorado livestock producers lost about 115,000 adult cattle and calves in 2015, the most recent year for which these data are published. Of those deaths, 109,920 were due to disease, weather, old age, poisoning and other maladies.
The remaining 5,080 cattle deaths — 4.6% of losses — were from predators, mostly coyotes and domesticated dogs. Nationwide, the livestock industry is 20 times more likely to lose calves and cattle from disease than from predation, and wolves account for just 4.9% of cattle predation, which is about 0.003% of total losses.
Regarding the danger actually posed by wolves, rhetoric wildly outstrips reality. Colorado only has maybe 20 adult collared wolves and some pups.
While they aren’t an existential threat to ranching, they are a potent symbol and, increasingly, a cultural flashpoint. This context helps explain the Trump administration’s recent moves to seize control of Colorado’s wolf-reintroduction plan.
In December, the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service threatened to revoke Colorado’s authority to manage wolf reintroduction, which Colorado voters approved in 2020. The feds falsely allege that Colorado has violated the agreement between the state and the federal government about how wolves are managed here.
Wolves are endangered in Colorado because humans killed off this keystone species more than 80 years ago. Wolves are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, but the administration hopes to eliminate that protection.
Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert’s bill to “de-list” the wolf has passed the House and awaits action in the Senate. She claims that gray wolves should no longer be listed as endangered and that the “science is crystal clear on this issue.”
The science is clear. It supports the restoration of wolves.
By law, decisions under the ESA must be guided by the best available science and insulated from political pressures. The law passed with overwhelming support in 1973, and President Richard Nixon signed it into law.
For me, this issue is personal. My father and uncle — Morris Udall and Stewart Udall — worked to pass this landmark law. Further, my dad championed bipartisanship, compromise and conservation of the natural environment. Protecting our environment and its threatened wildlife also protects us.
If the current administration successfully seizes control of Colorado’s wolf-reintroduction program, the results will be predictable: the loss of local control and states’ rights, fewer “boots on the ground” to help ranchers coexist, and a betrayal of America’s bipartisan commitment to protect and preserve endangered species.
And if wolves lose ESA protection, their populations in Colorado will face even greater challenges.
Like the plucky wolf called “Freedom,” wolf reintroduction faces an array of determined foes who seem unfazed by the best available science, our need for healthier ecosystems or the expressed will of voters.
The rest of us, meanwhile, are obliged to defend wolves, ecosystems and democracy.
Mark Udall, of Eldorado Springs, represented Colorado in the U.S. Senate from 2009-15, and Colorado’s Second Congressional District in the House of Representatives from 1999-2009. He is honorary chair of the Colorado Nature League dedicated to the protection of threatened and endangered species and habitat.
The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy. Learn how to submit a column. Reach the opinion editor at opinion@coloradosun.com.
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