At a time when the state’s fledgling wolf program is already at an “inflection point,” Colorado is coming off a record month of wolf-livestock kills. In July, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) confirmed wolves killed 13 cattle and sheep across six counties. From Jan. 1, 2026, through mid-August, wolves killed 32 livestock and one dog. Overall, Colorado is home to at least 32 wolves.

According to the Coloradoan, CPW hired 15 range riders in 2026 to try to reduce the number of wolf-livestock confrontations during a time of year when several factors may come into play.

"This includes the age of livestock, increased wolf movement in the summertime and livestock distribution across open allotments, which can lead to increased encounters with wolves," Luke Perkins, CPW spokesman, told the Coloradoan. "There is also additional human presence on allotments in the form of producers and range riders, which can lead to increased identification of potential depredations."

Increasing Conflict Costs

All the while, costs for the taxpayer-funded program continue to rise. Colorado Politics reports that the program’s annual budget is $2.1 million or almost three times more than original 2020 estimates voters were told it would cost, while compensation is budgeted for $350,000 per year. However, due to increasing conflicts, CPW is expected to pay livestock ranchers more than one million dollars in wolf-livestock compensation this year alone or $650,000 more than what is allotted.

Lethal Wolf Removal

In early August, CPW announced it lethally removed a male wolf from the One Ear pack in response to four depredations with calves from late June to early August in Grant County. In June, CPW removed a wolf from Routt County after at least 22 depredations over the previous year. It also removed a wolf from the Copper Creek pack in Pitkin County in May 2025 after repeated depredations. In September 2024, CPW captured six Copper Creek pack members due to chronic livestock depredations. The Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan states that CPW will not relocate wolves with depredation histories into the wild within Colorado. However, those six were released along with a new batch of wolves from British Columbia four months later.

New Wolf Leadership

CPW hired Matthew Hyde in August as its new head of the wolf program. He assumes the duties of Eric Odell, who retired. According to the Colorado Sun, Hyde studied carnivore-livestock conflicts at Colorado State University before working with the University of California Berkeley’s wildlife program.

“A big chunk of what Matt worked on in California was engaging with livestock producers to get a better understanding of how our compensation program worked, how it could work better, how they felt about different tools that were available from the agency and how they felt about the agency,” Axel Hunnicutt, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) statewide gray wolf coordinator, told Colorado Sun.

California is also not without its share of wolf-livestock conflicts. CDFW lethally removed four wolves in October 2025 after 70 confirmed livestock losses over a six-month period.

About Hunt 2 Conserve

Hunt 2 Conserve is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization affiliated with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Its mission is to advance a legacy of hunting and conservation by educating, activating and developing stewards and defenders of these fundamentally American ideals. For more information, go to hunt2conserve.org.

(Photo credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife/Jerry Neal)