The Center for Biological Diversity penned a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, asking the agency to limit the killing of wolves to be introduced in Colorado by 2023.
The group alleges the Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s (CPW) plan to introduce wolves does not have evidence of science in its development. The stakeholder advisory group involved in the wolves’ introduction recommended a plan to CPW that authorizes wolves to be killed if they have killed livestock or dogs.
“In any event, CPW should not be given discretion to determine when wolves can be killed,” the letter read. “CPW’s bias toward the livestock industry and against wolves will mean that its decision-making on when to kill wolves will not be constrained by the conservation intent of federal law.”
The group argues this is why the state’s plan to create an experimental population should constrain the killing of wolves. In addition, the conservationists argue killing wolves that prey on livestock should be disallowed because “livestock grazing is ubiquitous in Colorado on both private and public lands.”
