An outbreak of a contagious canine disease, particularly fatal for young pups, impacted the gray wolf population in Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park in 2025, with only an estimated “31 to 34” of the 87 documented pups born surviving until the end of the year.

Canine distemper, a contagious measles-like virus, was detected in 64% of animals in northwestern Wyoming, where wolves are classified as “trophy game.” While most adults are able to survive the affliction, the disease can be lethal for pups, with a 37% survival rate at the end of the year.

However, the wolf population in Wyoming “remained above minimum recovery criteria, making 2025 the 24th consecutive year Wyoming has exceeded the numerical, distributional, and temporal recovery criteria established for wolves by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” according to the 2025 annual report from Wyoming Gray Wolf Monitoring and Management.

At least 253 wolves in approximately 37 packs were noted statewide in Wyoming, including the Wolf Trophy Game Management Area, Yellowstone National Park and the Wind River Reservation on Dec. 31, 2025, according to the report. The state does not have management authority in the latter two areas.

Sixty wolves were reported to have died in WTGMA with causes of deaths including hunting (28), conflict control (16), other human causes (4), natural causes (8) and unknown causes (4), the report said. While the number was lower than in 2024, “the wolf population in the WTGMA decreased by 19% as a result of reduced pup production and recruitment,” the report said.

Yowlumni Disperser: First gray wolf spotted in Sequoia in over 100 years

What is distemper?

Distemper is a “contagious viral disease that infects species such as domestic dogs, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, skunks, and wolves,” according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The virus attacks the respiratory, gastrointestinal and nervous systems of dogs and other wild canines including foxes and wolves, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

While the disease can impact canines of all ages, puppies are at a higher risk.

Symptoms include discharge from the eyes and nose, fever, coughing, lethargy, vomiting and diarrhea. As the virus attacks the nervous system, canines may also exhibit neurologic signs such as walking in circles, inability to follow a straight path, lack of coordination, muscle twitches, seizures and even partial or complete paralysis.

Distemper can be spread through airborne exposure to the virus from an infected dog or wild animal through sneezing, coughing, or barking, AVMA said, and can also be transmitted through shared food, water bowls and other items.

A former Wyoming minister sued on claims he sexually abused three boys in the 1990s denies wrongdoing and says the boys — now men — haven’t overcome the state’s time limit on filing such lawsuits by saying they discovered the abuse roughly 30 years after it happened.

The three men in late March sued former Wyoming Catholic youth minister Doug Hudson, as well as the Catholic Diocese of Cheyenne and Our Lady of Fatima Church in Casper.

They accused the diocese and church of three variations of negligence and one breach of fiduciary duty; and Hudson of sexual assault/civil battery, and intentionally inflicting emotional distress. 

They are requesting at least $50,000 per plaintiff in damages.

Hudson filed his answer denying wrongdoing and asserting the men didn’t satisfy the statute of limitations on Wednesday.

The Timeline

Wyoming allows people to sue for sexual assault within eight years of an affected minor’s 18th birthday or three years after the discovery of the alleged abuse, whichever comes later.

The plaintiffs say they discovered the abuse in 2024. They don’t satisfy the “discovery rule” provision, Hudson’s Wednesday answer asserts.

The church and diocese also filed a joint motion asking the court to dismiss three of the four charges against them. 

That motion says the men have failed to establish the church system owed them particular duties of care when they were boys, the church and diocese had no indication Hudson was allegedly dangerous before he was hired, and there’s no real legal basis to support the idea that they were negligent in retaining Hudson.

Hudson’s attorney, Ryan Semerad, told Cowboy State Daily his client never hurt the three men, including when they were younger.

“Mr. Hudson is a good man who cares deeply for the Church, the faithful and the youth being brough tup in the Church,” wrote Semerad in a statement. “He unequivocally denies the allegations made against him. 

“He has never hurt a young person in his many years working with many young people in the Church and schools affiliated with the Church across America.”

Semerad added that his client “has faith that the truth will reveal he is innocent of the civil charges against him.”

“And,” the statement adds, “while this untrue lawsuit has upended his life and forced him out of the educational career he loved, he is praying for all involved in this matter.”

One of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Dallas Laird, declined Wednesday to comment.

As to the men’s 2024 discovery of what they allegedly endured as kids, however, Laird told WyoFile that sometimes people “don’t discover what happened to them until they wonder why their life has gone the way it has, and they go to therapy.”

Back Up

The lawsuit complaint claims that in the 1990s, Hudson sexually assaulted the three boys. 

It also says the diocese, an umbrella organization for the church, failed to manage Hudson and protect the plaintiffs.

The document says the diocese and church housed Hudson in Casper for conducting youth services, and that both diocese and church knew Hudson was inviting minors to his house on campus.

Hudson disputes that.

“His housing area was upstairs and a communal area for youth activities was downstairs,” says Hudson’s answer. “He denies that he invited any minors to ‘his house’ as in his housing area upstairs, but admits that he generally allowed minors to visit the communal area downstairs at appropriate times.”

The complaint says — and Hudson acknowledges — that the late Father Pietro Philip Colibraro supervised Hudson at that time.

The diocese lists Colibraro among church authorities with “substantiated allegations” of sexual abuse on their records.

One adolescent male reported abuse by Colibraro in 2005, the diocese’s list says.

The complaint says Colibraro was warned that Hudson was “plying adolescent males with alcohol” but doesn’t say who reported that claim. 

It says Hudson sexually assaulted Anthony Jacobson in 1995, Ryan Axlund in 1997, and James Stress in 1996 or 1997, at a hotel during an off-campus trip.

The complaint alleges that Hudson gave Stress “copious” amounts of alcohol and sexually assaulted him.

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.

WYOMING — Dust off the tackle box and get ready, because the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) is hosting its annual Free Fishing Day in June.

Once a year, WGFD invites anglers to grab their rods and reels and head to the water for a day of fishing, no license necessary. On Saturday, June 6, anyone can fish in the state without a license. All waters throughout Wyoming are open for fishing without a permit except those in the Wind River Reservation and Yellowstone National Park.

“All fishing regulations, creel and size limits, gear restrictions and stream closures remain in effect,” WGFD said in a news release. Review 2026 fishing regulations here.

WGFD will also host fishing events for children throughout the state. In Jackson, bring the kids to Rendezvous Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to fish, win prizes, and have lunch courtesy of the Jackson Hole Lions Club and Creekside Market. Children should plan to bring their own fishing gear, if possible. Prizes will be provided by Jackson Hole One Fly, WGFD, and Teton County Conservation District. Children must be accompanied by an adult, per WGFD.

In Afton, Kids’ Fishing Day will take place from 9 a.m. to noon at the Afton Golf Course Pond, with fishing rods and bait provided. Pinedale’s event starts at 10 a.m. at the Dudley Key Fields Pond, and free gift bags of fishing supplies will be handed out. In Dubois, registration begins at 8:30 a.m. at Pete’s Pond, and fishing will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Lunch will be provided.