Colorado wolf found dead last month was likely killed by a mountain lion, federal officials say

 

The reintroduced Colorado wolf found dead last month in Larimer County likely died after being attacked by a mountain lion, according to a necropsy conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The gray wolf was one of 10 released in December in Colorado’s central mountains as part of a voter-mandated reintroduction effort. The wolf is the first of the group to die, bringing the state’s known population of wolves to 11 — including two wolves remaining from a pack established earlier from wolves that had migrated from Wyoming.

The wolf was found dead on April 18 and collected by the Fish and Wildlife Service. A necropsy completed by the federal agency found the wolf died as a result of trauma from predation.

“Although not definitive, the puncture wounds in the skull are consistent with those typically inflicted by a mountain lion,” spokesman Joe Szuszwalak said Tuesday in an email...more