Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials on Friday killed a gray wolf that attacked 22 sheep on the Western Slope since last summer, agency officials said.

After Parks and Wildlife agents “lethally removed” the uncollared gray wolf in Routt County, agency officials were able to confirm it was the same wolf that attacked livestock in Rio Blanco County in 2025 and early 2026.

Most recently the wolf attacked two sheep in Routt County on Wednesday and Thursday, state officials said in a news release Saturday.

Agency leaders did not specify whether all of the sheep attacks were fatal, and spokesperson Luke Perkins said more information will be included in a final report published on Parks and Wildlife’s website.

Ranchers tried to deter the wolf by sending out range riders, using livestock guardian dogs and “scare devices,” having herders present with the sheep and applying for non-lethal hazing permits, state officials said.

The ranchers worked with the wildlife agency to use “all viable and reasonable non-lethal tools and techniques” to stop the attacks, Parks and Wildlife Director Laura Clellan said in a statement.

“The decision to pursue lethal actions is never an easy one, but the circumstances around this wolf’s repeated depredation history made this a difficult but necessary decision,” Clellan said.

The wolf was originally part of the Copper Creek Pack but has not been part of the pack since September 2024, state officials said.

Colorado’s handling of gray wolf reintroduction has remained in the spotlight since voters approved the measure in 2020.

For Denverites watching the weather forecast creep toward triple digits, there may be a few more weeks reprieve before temperatures on Colorado’s Front Range hit 100 degrees.

“So far this year we’ve had three 90-degree days, and we average at least one 100 degree day almost annually in Denver, so we’re just waiting to see that heat really build,” said Greg Heavener, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Boulder office. “It doesn’t really look like in the next week or 10 days we’re going to get there.”

Hitting 100 degrees this early in June isn’t unheard of in Denver — the city’s earliest daily record high to hit 100 degrees was June 11, 2022, according to NWS data. But the three hottest June days on record all hit 105 degrees later in June in 2012 and 2018.

“Usually we see heat peak in late June and early July,” Heavener said. Humidity from the monsoon season, which typically starts later in July, may keep things a little cooler as the summer progresses, he added.

Denver’s most recent 100-degree day was July 9, the only time the weather hit triple digits at Denver International Airport in 2025, according to the weather service.

Unlike lower elevations in Colorado, seeing multiple 100-degree days is relatively rare in Denver, NWS data shows. Even having two can earn a spot on the agency’s list of the greatest number of 100-degree days in a year.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Firefighters from Falcon and Cimarron Hills are responding to a structure fire east of Colorado Springs Friday night.

Just after 8 p.m., the Cimarron Hills Fire Department said crews were responding as automatic aid for the fire located at the 5000 block of Luther Road, near Marksheffel Road and Stetson Hills Boulevard.

Few details are available as of the time of this writing; this article will be updated as we learn more.