DENVER — An uncollared yearling wolf that was part of the One Ear Pack was killed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) agents on Tuesday after the agency found it was involved in multiple depredations.
CPW announced on Wednesday morning that the wolf was killed in Grand County. The decision came down after CPW officers confirmed the wolf had depredated on four calves. The first was on June 29 in Jackson County, and the three more occurred on July 26, July 31 and Aug. 1 in Grand County.
CPW said this continued even after producers used non-lethal conflict minimization techniques. That included range riders, scare devices, an active human presence and having a site assessment of their ranch to determine what tactics would work to keep wolves away from livestock.
“The decision to lethally remove a wolf is a very difficult one and a number of factors must be taken into consideration,” said CPW Director Laura Clellan in a press release Wednesday. “Unfortunately after a thorough review, the determination of chronic depredation was made in this case. Our staff will continue to work diligently with willing producers to deploy all reasonable non-lethal tools and methods in order to minimize the need for removals.”
Denver7 has been following Colorado's wolf reintroduction program since the very beginning, and you can explore all of that reporting in the timeline below, which starts with our most recent story.
This decision was made in consultation with USFWS, CPW said.
CPW said it will share a final report on this case once it is complete.
This marks the second wolf that CPW has killed due to depredation within a couple months. On June 13, Denver7 reported that CPW had located and killed a lone, uncollared wolf that they believe was responsible for 10 confirmed depredations since the summer of 2025.
The One Ear Pack is one of five packs currently in Colorado. The others include the Three Creeks Pack in Rio Blanco County, the Copper Creek Pack in Pitkin County, King Mountain Pack in Routt County and the newly formed Piney Ridge Pack in Eagle County.
Denver7 in-depth wolf coverage
The below list outlines an overview of the known wolf population in Colorado:
- Four wolves surviving from the original 10 that were released in December 2023 (one died of a likely mountain lion attack, a second died from injuries sustained prior to his capture as part of the Copper Creek Pack relocation effort, a third wolf became sickly and died, a fourth died in Wyoming, a fifth died during a re-collaring operation in February 2026, and a sixth died in northwest Colorado the following month)
- Three wolves surviving of the five wolf pups born in the spring of 2024 (one male was killed by CPW after multiple depredations in Pitkin County and a second male was shot for the same reasons in September 2025, which it survived, and again in June, when it was killed)
- Eight wolves surviving from the 15 that were released in January 2025 (one was shot and killed by Wildlife Services in Wyoming, a second died of unknown causes in Wyoming, a third died in Rocky Mountain National Park, a fourth died in northwest Colorado, the fifth died in northwest Colorado after it was likely hit by a car, a sixth died in southwestern Colorado, and a seventh died in northwest Colorado)
- At least 14 pups born in four packs in 2025: Two in the Copper Creek Pack, four in the King Mountain Pack, five in the One Ear Pack and three in the Three Creeks Pack
- One of the pups born into the One Ear Pack was lethally removed by CPW on Aug. 4, 2026 after multiple depredations on calves in Jackson and Grand counties
- Two wolves that moved south from Wyoming several years ago have been collared and are now members of the One Ear Pack
