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The first images of what are believed to be one of Colorado’s released wolves in the wild was captured Tuesday in Grand County.
That photo comes after a representative of Windler Ranch, located near Yampa in southern Routt County, said in a video on its Instagram page Dec. 22 that on Dec. 21 the family saw what they believe were four of the five wolves from Colorado’s initial wolf release Dec. 18.
The Coloradoan reached out to Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Thursday afternoon to verify the Tuesday photo and the Windler Ranch claim, but the communication went unanswered as of Thursday night.
The Windler Ranch representative, who identified herself as Kathryn and a member of the family that owns the ranch, said in the Instagram video that Colorado Parks and Wildlife was at the ranch within an hour to investigate the sighting, answer questions and provide them with resources.
However, the Coloradoan asked the state wildlife agency in a Wednesday email if it had received any verified sightings of the released wolves, and the agency said it had not.
Todd Schmidt told the Coloradoan on Thursday the photo of the wolf he took while driving to work Tuesday morning about 6 miles southeast of Kremmling and 5 miles from the initial release site is authentic.
The Kremmling business owner said he was driving along the Trough Road (Grand County Road 1) looking at bighorn sheep when a wolf ran across the road in front of his vehicle near Inspiration Point.
He said he pulled over and took photos with his cellphone out his back window of the wolf trotting through the sagebrush, but the images were “foggy.”
That’s when he said the wolf offered a better photo opportunity.
“When I stopped, it wasn’t like he was hauling a– like he’d seen a ghost,” Schmidt said. “He just meandered up the hill, at one point just looked at me, then parked himself in the sun on the rock.”
He said the wolf was about 20 yards from him, but factoring in the incline of the hill, he estimated it was less than 50 yards from him.
Schmidt said he took several photos of the wolf before it wandered off. He said it wore a collar and was by itself. The wolves released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in December were fitted with GPS satellite collars.https://www.google.com/maps/embed/v1/place?key=AIzaSyD9HrlRuI1Ani0-MTZ7pvzxwxi4pgW0BCY&zoom=10&q=Grand+County,+CO
Schmidt said he tried to report the sighting, calling the Colorado Parks and Wildlife office in Kremmling. He was referred to the Hot Sulphur Springs office but then ran out of cell service and didn’t report the sighting.
“I was just trying to do the right thing and make the call; I didn’t know it was such a big deal,” said Schmidt, who said he is against Colorado’s reintroduction of wolves. “There are a lot of different opinions about wolves.”
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He said he’s been asked why he didn’t shoot the wolf, to which he replied, “because I don’t carry a firearm and don’t want to get fined.”
The Windler Ranch family member said in the Instagram video that they saw three gray wolves and one black wolf, capturing the black one on camera. The video did not include a visual of the black wolf. Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s initial release included three gray and two black wolves.
She said they have not seen the wolves since. The ranch is located about 30 miles northwest of the initial Grand County release site.
She said immediately after seeing the wolves, the family checked their livestock, notified their neighbors and called Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
“This has hit close to home,” the Instagram post read. “There is a lot of unknown, uncertainty, and fear. To be honest it’s overwhelming and another obstacle for ranching families in the State of Colorado to overcome. Please continue to pray for Western Colorado as we navigate these uncharted waters while protecting our livestock, families and small businesses.”
In the video, the woman said: “None of us know what to expect, but I can truly say no matter what side of the line you are on prior to the reintroduction, the reality is here, and we need to build a relationship together as livestock owners and with the state to move forward to make this as successful as possible for all of us and work cooperatively as possible.”https://www.instagram.com/p/C1KyFMoRzUE/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=12&wp=1116&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.coloradoan.com#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A23249.099999904633%7D
The state wildlife agency released 10 wolves that were captured in Oregon as part of its initial reintroduction effort at various sites in Grand and Summit counties in late December.
The controversial release riled Colorado ranchers who claimed Colorado Parks and Wildlife reneged on its promise to avoid bringing wolves into the state that have been confirmed to have killed livestock in Oregon.
“They lied to our faces,” Grand County rancher Gordon Lewis said of the state wildlife agency. “They told us if they dropped the wolves off, they would notify us and that hasn’t happened. We are tired of this dog and pony show they are putting on.”
Colorado Parks and Wildlife told the Coloradoan Thursday in an email that it will not make staff available for an interview regarding its release of wolves in Grand County.
In a Wednesday email, the Coloradoan asked the agency if it would send news releases involving naturally migrating and released wolves’ mortality, depredation, movement out of state or onto tribal lands or other significant events.
It responded none of those events have taken place since the wolves were released and added: “CPW is currently determining the regularity with which it will report on wolf-livestock depredation events and movement information for both released and naturally migrating wolves.”
Note: This story was updated through Friday morning with more details.
Exposing the Big Game 