Colorado

Jackson County ranch cattle dog attacked by wolf, wildlife officials confirm

Published

1 year ago

March 20, 2025

Press Room

Jackson County ranch cattle dog attacked by wolf, wildlife officials confirm

A dog was attacked in Jackson County, Colorado by a wolf or wolves, marking the second wolf depredation in the county in just over a month.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed the attack, which occurred on March 9, but did not disclose whether the dog was injured or killed.
A rancher in the area reported seeing an uncollared wolf on his property, raising concerns about the presence of additional uncollared wolves in the region.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has confirmed a dog was attacked by a wolf or wolves in Jackson County, just more than a month after the last confirmed wolf depredation, also in Jackson County.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife said in an email to the Coloradoan on Wednesday it is not sharing information other than what is posted on its confirmed wolf depredation page.

That report says the depredation occurred March 9 and involved one dog and that no claim has been filed.

CPW defines a depredation as physical trauma resulting in injury or death. It was not confirmed by the agency if the dog was injured or killed.

“CPW has team members working with the producer impacted, as well as surrounding producers to identify and deploy non-lethal wolf-livestock conflict minimization measures,” CPW spokesperson Travis Duncan, wrote in the email to the Coloradoan.

The Coloradoan sent an email March 13 asking CPW for details about the March 9 depredation after being notified of the incident by sources familiar with the situation.

CPW spokesperson Rachel Gonzales chose not to confirm or deny the attack when asked by the Coloradoan.

It was the second confirmed wolf depredation of livestock in Jackson County in just more than a month. The dog involved in the March 9 depredation was a working cattle dog, which is covered under the state’s wolf recovery plan compensation program.

CPW stated in a news release sent Feb. 15 a cow was confirmed killed by a wolf or wolves Feb. 5. Greg Sykes told the Coloradoan the depredation occurred on a ranch he manages about 12 miles west of Walden.

That depredation was the first recognized as being from a wolf not familiar to the state wildlife agency.

CPW said in the release the depredation was not by released wolves fitted with collars or two uncollared wolves the state acknowledges have been in the state.

The ranch was paid $2,097.66 for the loss, according to CPW’s wolf depredation page.

The March 9 depredation was the first confirmed by a wolf of a dog since March 13, 2023, when members of the North Park pack killed Sykes’ working cattle border collie, and injured a pet dog on a neighboring ranch.

Sykes was paid $15,000 for his loss, the maximum compensation allowed under the state’s wolf recovery plan. Pet dogs are not covered under the plan.

North Park pack members injured a working cattle dog and killed a pet dog on the same ranch northeast of Walden in January of 2022. That claim totaled $1,252.72.

An uncollared wolf was in the area where the recent wolf depredation occurred

The March 9 depredation did not take place near the Feb. 5 depredation in Jackson County, according to Jackson County rancher Don Gittleson, who out of respect for the ranch’s privacy declined to comment on specifics of where the most recent depredation took place.

Gittleson told the Coloradoan, he saw a wolf on his ranch northeast of Walden on March 17. He said he was feeding cattle a mile from his house when he had a clear view of the wolf from about 150 yards away as it looked at him before moving off over a rise.

Gittleson has seen numerous wolves on his ranch in person and said it was without question a wolf.

Gittleson said he did not see a collar on it but that it could have been hid by the wolf’s fur.

He said he called the sighting in to CPW and asked if there were collared wolves in the area. He said the person he spoke to said there were no collared wolves in the area but that they would check on the latest data collected from GPS collars and give him an update.

“I never heard a peep, which leads me to believe we have an uncollared wolf around here,” Gittleson said. “I asked because there’s been a lot of talk around here about the uncollared wolves people are seeing. I guess that means we have at least one more uncollared wolf up here.”

CPW acknowledges 29 collared wolves in the state plus two uncollared wolves.

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Colorado

Colorado health officials identify 2 additional measles cases in Weld County, possible exposure in El Paso County

Published

8 hours ago

April 9, 2026

Press Room

Colorado health officials identify 2 additional measles cases in Weld County, possible exposure in El Paso County

Two additional cases of measles have been confirmed in Weld County. According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Weld County Public Health, the new cases are in two unvaccinated adults.

Health officials said both people are household contacts of a previously confirmed case that is not linked to the Broomfield schools outbreak. However, officials said they are notifying the public about a potential exposure location in El Paso County related to those cases. Health officials told CBS Colorado last month that the outbreak at the schools had forced 80 students, staff and volunteers to stay away from the campuses due to their vaccination status.

CDPHE said the known exposure location is the Chick-fil-A at the Citadel Crossing Shopping Center located at 505 N. Academy Blvd. in Colorado Springs, March 25 between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Symptoms may occur through April 15.

CDPHE said while the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is highly effective, breakthrough cases can occur, especially following prolonged exposure within a household. Breakthrough cases typically experience milder illness and are less likely to spread the virus to others.

Measles is a highly contagious disease. Getting the MMR vaccine is the best way to protect yourself, your family, and your community.

Additional Information from the CDPHE:

What to do if you were exposed

Watch for symptoms: Measles symptoms begin with fever, cough, runny nose, and red eyes, followed by a rash that usually starts several days later on the face and spreads. If you were at the location at the listed date and time, you may have been exposed. Watch for symptoms for 21 days after exposure. Monitoring for symptoms is especially critical for people who have not been vaccinated with the MMR vaccine, particularly infants under one year of age who are not routinely recommended for the vaccine. If you develop symptoms, call CDPHE (720-653-3369) or your local public health agency right away.
Call before you go: If you need medical care, do not delay. Call your health care provider, urgent care, or emergency department before going in, and tell them you may have been exposed to measles. This helps prevent further spread.

More information

Visit the CDPHE measles webpage, which includes information about symptoms, transmission, and vaccine recommendations, 2026 Colorado measles case information, and a current list of exposure locations.

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Colorado

Colorado Parks and Wildlife asks for public comment on possible commercial fur ban

Published

21 hours ago

April 9, 2026

Press Room

Colorado Parks and Wildlife asks for public comment on possible commercial fur ban

Colorado Parks and Wildlife will consider a potential ban on the commercial sale of furbearers at its July commission meeting.

The idea for a ban on the commercial sale, barter or trade of furs from furbearer species — a classification that includes 17 wildlife species like foxes, beavers, coyotes, bobcats and other mesocarnivores — came from a citizen petition brought to Parks and Wildlife last year by a Colorado representative of the Center of Biological Diversity.

The commission approved the petition in March, against the recommendation of Parks and Wildlife staff, initiating a formal rulemaking process on the proposed ban.

Now, Parks and Wildlife is seeking public input on the proposal to inform staff’s development of an issue paper that will be presented to the commission during its July 16-17 meetings. The agency will be accepting input from the public through May 3 on EngageCPW.org.

The proposed ban — and agency’s overall management of these 17 species — has been a topic of much debate at commission meetings for many months.

In Colorado, furbearers can be hunted with the purchase of a $10 permit available to individuals who purchase a small game license. In its 2024-25 fiscal year, the agency sold 19,620 furbearer permits. While there are currently no limits on the number that a furbearer permit-holder can kill of these species, the agency has had initial discussions about potentially imposing a daily limit.

Samantha Miller, a Grand Lake resident and the senior carnivore campaigner for the Center for Biological Diversity who submitted the petition, has referred to the ban of commercial sale for furbearer furs as a “common sense change” and “low bar” that aligns furbearers with how Colorado manages other wildlife species. Miller and other supporters of the ban argue that allowing the commercial sale of furs incentivizes overharvesting of the animals and threatens overall biodiversity.

In her recommendation to the commission, Laura Clellan, the newly appointed Parks and Wildlife director, wrote that the agency’s main rationale for denying the ban on commercial fur sales is that the petition “lacks solid evidence that commercial fur sales drive harvest levels in Colorado.”

Opponents of the petition supported the agency’s stance and have argued that the state’s current furbearer management works and is backed by science. Many claim that the proposed commercial ban represents a greater attack on hunting and trapping, which represents an important tradition in Colorado and supports conservation.

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Colorado

Fire crews knock down wildfire that prompted evacuations in northern Colorado

Published

1 day ago

April 8, 2026

Press Room

Fire crews knock down wildfire that prompted evacuations in northern Colorado

Fire crews are extinguishing hot spots on a wildfire in northern Colorado that prompted evacuations early Wednesday for people living near Carter Lake in Larimer County.

The Cougar Run fire was estimated at about 3 1/2 acres at about 8:30 a.m., down from an earlier estimate of 10 acres, according to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office. The cause for the fire, which is burning on state land, remains unknown.

The mandatory evacuation remained in effect as crews continue to work but were lifted at about 10:30 a.m., the sheriff’s office said.

Voluntary evacuations were also being urged for residents in the area of Blue Mountain and Spring Valley, west of Carter Lake, the agency said.

Crews from the sheriff’s office, the state’s fire division and Berthoud and Loveland fire departments are on scene, the sheriff’s office said. A helicopter was ordered.

Fire restrictions are in effect for areas below 9,000 feet in unincorporated parts of Larimer County, barring uncontained open fires and smoking in open areas, such as trails and open spaces.

“Elevated to critical fire weather” is expected across the lower Front Range foothills and Interstate 25 corridor Wednesday due to warm, dry and breezy conditions, according to the National Weather Service. Moisture is expected to lower fire risk starting Thursday and through the weekend, with daily chances of showers and thunderstorms, the service said.

A separate fire that sparked northwest of Boulder grew to about 2 acres before crews stopped its progress earlier Wednesday. An evacuation warning was issued for the Goat Trail fire just before 4 a.m.