Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed a wolf killed a calf in Grand County on Tuesday, marking the first depredation event since wolves were formally reintroduced in the state.

“The field investigation found multiple tooth rake marks on the calf’s hindquarters and neck, and hemorrhaging under the hide, consistent with wolf depredation. Wolf tracks were also found nearby,” Parks and Wildlife Area Wildlife Manager Jeromy Huntington said, according to a news release. 

The attack is the first depredation event since the agency released 10 gray wolves on Colorado’s Western Slope in December and January as part of the state’s voter-approved reintroduction efforts. There had been other attacks by wolves in Jackson County previous to the state’s formal reintroduction efforts.

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Parks and Wildlife didn’t identify the rancher or the part of the county where the attack occurred.

Since the initial release of five wolves in Grand County, the wolves, which are wearing tracking collars, have spread throughout the Western Slope. Parks and Wildlife plans to release a new map every month showing where the wolves have traveled.    

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Tim Ritschard, president of the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association, said he hopes the event will push the state to define chronic depredation.

Livestock producers and Western Slope lawmakers have asked the agency to clearly define the term. When a wolf falls into that category, Parks and Wildlife or a rancher is allowed to intervene, including using lethal measures, using a federal 10(j) rule. That provision, granted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in November, allows the state or ranchers to kill wolves, which are normally protected under the Endangered Species Act.

“Now we’re in the territory of depredation, we’re sad for the loss and it was only a matter of time before it happened,” Ritschard said. 

Several of the wolves that were released in Colorado were part of the large Five Points pack in Oregon that killed three livestock animals.

In 2023, Western Slope lawmakers from both parties brought a bill allocating $350,000 annually to a compensation fund providing up to $15,000 in reimbursement per animal killed or injured by a wolf or wolves. Under Proposition 114, the ballot measure that proposed reintroducing wolves, the state was required to create a fund for compensating ranchers.

“This is exactly why we worked so hard to ensure 10(j) and the compensation fund prior to reintroduction,” said Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco. “The reason there’s such strong opposition is because we knew it was going to happen and here we are.”

Roberts said he will be following the investigation closely to ensure the rancher is quickly compensated for the loss. Parks and Wildlife deemed the rancher eligible for compensation, according to the news release. 

The Colorado legislature rejected a bill this week that would have made it harder for ranchers to receive that compensation. 

This is a developing story that will be updated.

Ski-Hi News’ editor Tara Alatorre contributed to this story.