Wolf-pack report raises doubts, fears

Wolf advocates are celebrating the return of wolves to Colorado after biologists for a recreational ranch northwest of here recently announced a pack may have taken up residence. But that same prospect has sparked fear in neighboring ranchers and outfitters. It has also generated a lot of skepticism from ranchers and wildlife experts. "I have ridden that area and hunted lions in that area, and I have not seen any signs nor have I heard them at night," said outfitter and ranch hand Brian Bivins, who previously lived in wolf country in Idaho and saw many wolves there. "I think the biologist lady just wants them to be there." That biologist is Cristina Eisenberg, a conservation biologist and author who lives in the wolf country of Montana. She was hired by the 300-square-mile High Lonesome Ranch where the wolves supposedly live. It is she and her crew who found the 15 samples of suspected wolf scat and several wolf tracks. It was enough evidence for wolf advocates to put out the proverbial welcome mat for a predator that was killed off in Colorado 70 years ago. But it has left the skeptics asking if wolves truly have made a home in Colorado again. Or are pro-wolf biologists and a ranch owner who are bent on biodiversity being overly enthusiastic?...read more