Return of the Wolf

DIVIDE, Colo. — Cutting up pieces of mostly-frozen Wagyu beef takes some effort, but Kelly Murphy thinks it’s worth it. With every slap of the knife on the counter, she takes a flea and tick prevention pill and shoves it into the piece of beef, now ready to distribute to more than a dozen hungry wolves that reside at the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife center. 

In 2020, for the first time in American history, Coloradans voted to reintroduce a wildlife species to the state — the gray wolf, or canis lupus. In December 2023, new paws hit the ground, and the disagreements heated up.

Prior to human intervention, gray wolves occupied most of North America, including Colorado. By the late 19th century, wolves were seen as a threat to safety and livelihoods as westward expansion increased. Hunters targeted wolves with bounties offered by stockmen associations and ranchers themselves. It then became federal policy to eliminate wolves; the last wolves were killed in Colorado in the 1940s. 

Still, many mountain ranchers are concerned about the threat of this predator to their livelihoods. Several ranchers Rocky Mountain PBS interviewed emphasized the increased amount of stress, time and money that wolf reintroduction brings to their lives. 

This complex issue is the subject of a one hour-documentary, “Colorado Experience: Return of the Wolf.” Rocky Mountain PBS interviewed professors of history and wildlife biology, along with ranchers and wolf advocates to track the story of wolves in Colorado. Watch the episode below.