# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The 'Busy' Life of the Sloth | BBC Earth

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Cute, soft and slow - very slow - sloths are seen by many as affable living stuffed animals, and that is how they tend to be portrayed in children's movies, documentaries and viral videos.

But that's a distorted, and dangerous, perception - and one that has driven the illegal trade in this unique species. The truth is that sloths aren't meant to be cuddled. They are wild animals, and they belong in the wild.

There are six sub species of sloths in Central America and South America, all of which are threatened by deforestation and degradation of their habitat (tropical forests), and by illegal trafficking. Sadly, these factors often result in fatal outcomes for the creature.

Organizations responsible for the protection of the species in Central America and Colombia estimate that between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of trafficked sloths die in the process.

"Sloths are very sensitive animals. They get stressed very easily, and this immediately affects their respiratory and digestive systems," says Néstor Correa, biologist and president of the Pan-American Association for Conservation (APPC), an organization that rehabilitates sloths rescued in Panama.

Baby sloths - which are highly coveted by traffickers - are also the most fragile. "The separation from their mothers and the lack of breast milk is traumatic for them," says Correa.

Newborns are separated from their mothers, often violently, and are then malnourished, kept in overcrowded environments and physically abused. In many cases, their nails are cut to prevent them from harming humans, impeding them from preforming their main activity: hanging from trees. Sloths, which feed on plants and fruits that are found only in tropical trees, only go down to the ground to defecate, approximately once a week. Their metabolism is very slow, so they spend very little energy when they move.

Hundreds of sick and dehydrated newborns have arrived at the APPC shelter in the community of Gamboa, on the banks of the Panama Canal. People tend to take them there when they get critically sick after days or weeks of transport or inadequate care.

"Baby sloths are like porcelain," says Tinka Plese, whose organization, Fundación Aiunau, in Medellín, Colombia, has been devoted to the conservation of sloths, armadillos and anteaters for more than 20 years.

The highest number of sloths arrive at the organization's shelter in the holiday seasons, which is when the inhabitants of Medellín travel to areas where the species live and buy specimens on the margins of the roads, says Plese, who is also a part of the Group of Specialists in Anteater, Sloth and Armadillo Bears of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The high prices that these animals command in cities or high-income countries have stimulated the illegal market for sloths in vulnerable communities, where a single baby sloth can go for represent much more money than weekly or monthly salaries earned by those living in rural communities. The animals are offered on roads and squares and even on request, according to Plese.

A baby sloth rides on its mother's back. (Photo by Roger Burkhard on Unsplash)

In addition to their focus in species rehabilitation, the Aiunau organization also investigates illegal trafficking at the local level, offers educational experiences for civil society and government officials, and participates in the development of national policies against the illicit trade.

Colombia and Panama are home to four of the six existing sloth subspecies. The Bradypus variegatus (three-toed) and the Choloepus hoffmanni (two-toed) live in both countries, while the Choloepus didactylus (two-toed) inhabits Colombia and much of the Amazon. These three subspecies are included in the "least concern" IUCN red list.

The only subpecies in critical danger of extinction is the Bradypus pygmaeus or "lazy pygmy", which lives only on a tiny Panamanian island in the Caribbean.

There are two other subspecies of sloths. The Bradypus tridactylus, which lives in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Surinam and Venezuela, and the Bradypus torquatus, which inhabits only a section of Brazil's Atlantic forest and is considered vulnerable.
The role of tourism
Sloths have become a new commodity in the tourism sector. If they are not sold to tourists, they are displayed in cities and ports, where people can pay to hug and feed them.

In Panama, the APPC works to raise awareness among tourists about these harmful practices. Its neighbour and ally, the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, has built facilities for tourists to learn about the process of rehabilitating of sloths, without disturbing the species' space or routines.

The centre includes a stretch of forest where the organization can check if the specimens in the APPC are ready to return to a pleasant life in the treetops.

Some sloths, however, are not able to afford to return to life in the wild, as they have lost the opportunity to learn survival instincts from their mothers. Their docility would make them an easy prey for other species, such as the jaguar.

That is the case of Coquito, a Bradypus variegatus known in the APPC for his meekness. As he can´t go back to the depths of the forest, he now has a new job: to be the image of the organization so that his life story can help humans to change their relationship with wildlife.
Find out how UN Environment is working to end the illegal wildlife trade.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Cute, soft and slow - very slow - sloths are seen by many as affable living stuffed animals, and that is how they tend to be portrayed in children's movies, documentaries and viral videos. But that's a distorted, and dangerous, perception - and one that has driven the illegal trade in this unique species.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Cute, soft and slow - very slow - sloths are seen by many as affable living stuffed animals, and that is how they tend to be portrayed in children's movies, documentaries and viral videos.

But that's a distorted, and dangerous, perception - and one that has driven the illegal trade in this unique species. The truth is that sloths aren't meant to be cuddled. They are wild animals, and they belong in the wild.

There are six sub species of sloths in Central America and South America, all of which are threatened by deforestation and degradation of their habitat (tropical forests), and by illegal trafficking. Sadly, these factors often result in fatal outcomes for the creature.

Organizations responsible for the protection of the species in Central America and Colombia estimate that between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of trafficked sloths die in the process.

"Sloths are very sensitive animals. They get stressed very easily, and this immediately affects their respiratory and digestive systems," says Néstor Correa, biologist and president of the Pan-American Association for Conservation (APPC), an organization that rehabilitates sloths rescued in Panama.

Baby sloths - which are highly coveted by traffickers - are also the most fragile. "The separation from their mothers and the lack of breast milk is traumatic for them," says Correa.

Newborns are separated from their mothers, often violently, and are then malnourished, kept in overcrowded environments and physically abused. In many cases, their nails are cut to prevent them from harming humans, impeding them from preforming their main activity: hanging from trees. Sloths, which feed on plants and fruits that are found only in tropical trees, only go down to the ground to defecate, approximately once a week. Their metabolism is very slow, so they spend very little energy when they move.

Hundreds of sick and dehydrated newborns have arrived at the APPC shelter in the community of Gamboa, on the banks of the Panama Canal. People tend to take them there when they get critically sick after days or weeks of transport or inadequate care.

"Baby sloths are like porcelain," says Tinka Plese, whose organization, Fundación Aiunau, in Medellín, Colombia, has been devoted to the conservation of sloths, armadillos and anteaters for more than 20 years.

The highest number of sloths arrive at the organization's shelter in the holiday seasons, which is when the inhabitants of Medellín travel to areas where the species live and buy specimens on the margins of the roads, says Plese, who is also a part of the Group of Specialists in Anteater, Sloth and Armadillo Bears of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The high prices that these animals command in cities or high-income countries have stimulated the illegal market for sloths in vulnerable communities, where a single baby sloth can go for represent much more money than weekly or monthly salaries earned by those living in rural communities. The animals are offered on roads and squares and even on request, according to Plese.

A baby sloth rides on its mother's back. (Photo by Roger Burkhard on Unsplash)

In addition to their focus in species rehabilitation, the Aiunau organization also investigates illegal trafficking at the local level, offers educational experiences for civil society and government officials, and participates in the development of national policies against the illicit trade.

Colombia and Panama are home to four of the six existing sloth subspecies. The Bradypus variegatus (three-toed) and the Choloepus hoffmanni (two-toed) live in both countries, while the Choloepus didactylus (two-toed) inhabits Colombia and much of the Amazon. These three subspecies are included in the "least concern" IUCN red list.

The only subpecies in critical danger of extinction is the Bradypus pygmaeus or "lazy pygmy", which lives only on a tiny Panamanian island in the Caribbean.

There are two other subspecies of sloths. The Bradypus tridactylus, which lives in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Surinam and Venezuela, and the Bradypus torquatus, which inhabits only a section of Brazil's Atlantic forest and is considered vulnerable.
The role of tourism
Sloths have become a new commodity in the tourism sector. If they are not sold to tourists, they are displayed in cities and ports, where people can pay to hug and feed them.

In Panama, the APPC works to raise awareness among tourists about these harmful practices. Its neighbour and ally, the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, has built facilities for tourists to learn about the process of rehabilitating of sloths, without disturbing the species' space or routines.

The centre includes a stretch of forest where the organization can check if the specimens in the APPC are ready to return to a pleasant life in the treetops.

Some sloths, however, are not able to afford to return to life in the wild, as they have lost the opportunity to learn survival instincts from their mothers. Their docility would make them an easy prey for other species, such as the jaguar.

That is the case of Coquito, a Bradypus variegatus known in the APPC for his meekness. As he can´t go back to the depths of the forest, he now has a new job: to be the image of the organization so that his life story can help humans to change their relationship with wildlife.
Find out how UN Environment is working to end the illegal wildlife trade.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Cute, soft and slow - very slow - sloths are seen by many as affable living stuffed animals, and that is how they tend to be portrayed in children's movies, documentaries and viral videos. But that's a distorted, and dangerous, perception - and one that has driven the illegal trade in this unique species.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Penguins are certainly charismatic.

Their striking appearance and jaunty waddles spark endless fascination among wildlife watchers and zoogoers alike. Documentary films like March of the Penguins have captivated audiences around the world.

But Twitter user @CheungEdwin909 wants to know if penguins are as clever as they are cute. Do penguins have the same smarts and good memories as other birds like ravens and crows, he asks? ( Read more about crow and raven intelligence.)

Smarts of the Penguins

Intelligence doesn't just mean cleverness, says David Powell, Director of Research at the St. Louis Zoo. When assessing intelligence, he says, it's important to test abilities that are "actually meaningful to the animal," like hunting and navigation.

Penguin cognition is not quite as well documented as that of parrots or corvids (crows, ravens, and magpies, for example), which have been formally studied for years, says Anne Tieber, Curator of Birds at the St. Louis Zoo. But their intelligence can be compared to corvids in several ways, she says.

For example, penguins hunt cooperatively, just like brown-necked ravens. African penguins, which live around the southern tip of Africa, cooperate to herd fish, driving them towards the surface for easy pickings. It's a method almost three times more efficient than group-hunting a single fish, according to a study published in Royal Society Open Science.

Coordinated hunting requires "rapid information processing," says Powell, integrating quickly changing movements and signals from flock mates, and "making a prediction where the fish are going to go and how to then get them."

Master navigators

Like crows, which can remember particular human faces for years, many penguin species have remarkable memories. ( Read about how crows react to the deaths of their comrades.)

Many penguin species, including Adelie and Chinstrap, return to the same nest spot each year and have to be able to find it in colonies where there may be thousands of other birds. This is a feat that combines both memory and navigation, Powell says.

Even at 10 months old, king penguin chicks can find their way back to a square-meter space in a huge colony from a third of a mile away. The birds use visual cues like lakes and hills as well as sounds of the colony to guide themselves home.

King penguins, which are monogamous during mating season, can recognize their partners' call, even in noisy colonies where hundreds of penguins are searching for their own mates.

The ability to filter out extraneous noise and home in on only what you need to hear is a trait that at least three species of penguins share with humans. This phenomenon of being in a noisy crowd but being able to hear your friend's voice through the din is known as the " the cocktail party effect."

Perfect skill for a tuxedo-clad bird.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Penguins are certainly charismatic. Their striking appearance and jaunty waddles spark endless fascination among wildlife watchers and zoogoers alike. Documentary films like March of the Penguins have captivated audiences around the world. But Twitter user @CheungEdwin909 wants to know if penguins are as clever as they are cute.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Emperor Penguins Fight Over Mate | BBC Earth

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Adelie penguins going to the water. (iStock)

For millions of years, fluctuating climates have impacted Adélie penguins, which breed on ice-free, rocky ground.

Colder climates and expanding glaciers led penguins to abandon ice-covered breeding habitats. Warming climates and melting glaciers meant more breeding territory for these penguins, one of only two true Antarctic penguin species. (Emperor penguins are the other.)

But warming may have reached a tipping point - and the Adélie penguin population could be decimated.

That's according to a study published this week in the journal Scientific Reports, which estimates that Adélie colonies could decline by as much as 60 percent by the end of the century.

"It is only in recent decades that we know Adélie penguins population declines are associated with warming, which suggests that many regions of Antarctica have warmed too much and that further warming is no longer positive for the species," the paper's lead author, University of Delaware researcher Megan Cimino, said in a statement.

Scientists have found yet another part of Antarctica that may be in trouble

These penguins breed on the entire Antarctic continent.

Other penguins breed on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, which scientists warn is quickly warming.

The Adélie penguin is already undergoing population declines on the West Antarctic Peninsula, one of the fastest-warming places on the planet.

But elsewhere on the continent, in places where the climate has remained stable or even cooled, the penguin population has been stable or even increased.

While in the past, "Adélie penguin populations were positively affected by warming and negatively affected by cooling," the authors write, this study suggests "that in many regions of Antarctica climate warming has tipped past peak suitability so that further warming is no longer beneficial to Adélie penguins."

Antarctica's ice is being carved up from below

In particular, climate change could decrease the quality and availability of nesting grounds and food.

Adélie penguins build their nests with pebbles on terrain free of ice and snow. Eggs and chicks need to be kept dry and out of water.

Warming climates could bring more rain, or prematurely melting snow or ice, meaning more wet terrain.

"For penguins who lay their eggs on the ground," Cimino told National Geographic, "rain and puddles are bad because eggs can't survive when they're lying in a pool of water. Chicks that don't have waterproof feathers can become wet and die from hypothermia."

Climate change could also lead to a decrease in krill, a major food source for Adélie penguins, and affect the species.

There is some hope: The study's projections suggest there could be areas of relatively unaltered climate on the Antarctic continent after 2099, providing a refuge to penguins and buffering a species-wide decline.

In particular, the Cape Adare region of the Ross Sea, thought to have once been a climate refuge in the past, could become one in the future as well.

Yet another Antarctic ice mass is becoming destabilized, scientists report

The study's model projects that one-third of the current Adélie colonies (or 20 percent of the entire population) could decline by 2060.

And 60 percent of colonies could decline by 2099.

To create the model to measure climate change's impact on Adélie penguin colonies, the research team used satellite imagery, global climate change projections and field surveys.

Scientists need you to count cute baby penguins

Satellite observations between 1981 and 2010 provided sea surface temperature, sea ice and bare rock locations. The researchers used global estimates of the penguin's breeding locations - where they are and aren't - from on-the-ground penguin counts and high-resolution satellite imagery.

"One of the key advances over the last decade is our ability to find penguin colonies from space and, nearly as important, to determine which areas of Antarctica do not support penguin colonies," co-author Heather J. Lynch, an assistant professor at Stony Brook University's Ecology and Evolution Department, said in a statement. "Having both true presence and absence across a species' global range is unique to this system, and opens up new avenues for modeling habitat suitability."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Antarctica's penguins could be decimated by climate change

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For millions of years, fluctuating climates have impacted Adélie penguins, which breed on ice-free, rocky ground. Colder climates and expanding glaciers led penguins to abandon ice-covered breeding habitats. Warming climates and melting glaciers meant more breeding territory for these penguins, one of only two true Antarctic penguin species.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Protecting leatherback turtles - Blue Planet II: Episode 7 Preview - BBC

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A key conservation group counted the continent's elephants as two species for the first time, highlighting the dire threat to forest elephants.

Wild forest elephants in the Dzanga Sangha Reserve in the Central African Republic in 2019. Credit... Florent Vergnes/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images

While some African elephants parade across the savanna and thrill tourists on safari, others are more discreet. They stay hidden in the forests, eating fruit.

"You feel pretty lucky when you catch sight of them," said Kathleen Gobush, a Seattle-based conservation biologist and member of the African Elephant Specialist Group within the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or I.U.C.N.

The threat of extinction has diminished the odds of spotting one of these wood-dwelling elephants in recent decades, according to a new I.U.C.N. Red List assessment of African elephants released Thursday. The Red List categorizes species by their risk of forever vanishing from the world. The new assessment is the first in which the conservation union treats Africa's forest and savanna elephants as two species instead of one.

Both are in bad shape. The last time the group assessed African elephants, in 2008, it listed them as vulnerable. Now it says savanna elephants are endangered, one category worse.

The shy forest elephants have lost nearly nine-tenths of their number in a generation and are now critically endangered - just one step from extinction in the wild.

Led by Dr. Gobush, the assessment team gathered data from 495 sites across Africa. A statistical model let them use the elephant numbers from each site to see broader trends for both species.

"We essentially looked at data from as far back as possible," Dr. Gobush said. The I.U.C.N. aims for three generations of data to get a full picture of an animal's well-being. But for the long-lived elephants, that's a challenge. The average savanna elephant mother gives birth at 25 years; forest elephant moms are 31 on average. Because the earliest surveys researchers could find were from the 1960s and 1970s, they could peer back only two generations for savanna elephants, and a single generation for forest elephants.

Even during those few decades, the changes were drastic. The population of savanna elephants has fallen at least 60 percent, the team found. Forest elephants have declined by more than 86 percent.

"That is alarming," said Ben Okita, a Nairobi-based conservation biologist with Save the Elephants. Dr. Okita is co-chair of the conservation union's African Elephant Specialist Group but did not work on the new assessment.

Image

Forest elephants in salt marshes near the Bayanga Equatorial Forest, part of the Central African Republic's Dzanga Sangha Reserve. Credit... Florent Vergnes/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images

Dr. Okita said that considering the two elephant species separately was helping to reveal just how bad things are, especially for the forest elephant.

"The forest elephants, in most cases, have been largely ignored," he said. Grouping the two elephants together probably masked just how bad things were for the forest elephant, he said.

The I.U.C.N. made the change because in recent years, "It's become clear that genetically these two species are different," Dr. Okita said. The final piece of evidence for the conservation union was a 2019 study it commissioned that showed the two elephants only rarely reproduce with each other.

Alfred Roca, a geneticist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said the I.U.C.N.'s recognition of two African elephant species was a little tardy. More than two decades ago, a study of 295 skulls in museums found "enormous differences" between the two types of elephants, he said. In life, forest elephants have smaller bodies, rounder ears and straighter tusks than savanna elephants.

Genetically, "The separation between them is probably greater than the separation between lions and tigers," Dr. Roca said.

Still, he said: "It's never too late. I'm delighted that they've done this, because it really highlights the terrible situation that the forest elephant is in."

It will be especially hard for forest elephants to bounce back, Dr. Roca added, because of how long they wait to reproduce - six years longer than the savanna elephants. The I.U.C.N. assessment also found that 70 percent of forest elephants might live outside protected areas, leaving them especially vulnerable to ivory poachers.

Elephants being killed for their ivory tusks isn't a new problem, and neither is the habitat loss they face.

"It's the same two main threats that have afflicted the animals forever," Dr. Gobush said. Poaching comes in waves, she added; it was especially severe in the 1980s and reached another peak in 2011.

Where elephants disappear, they leave a big gap - not just physically, but also in the work they do. Some tree species depend entirely on forest elephants to eat their fruits, swallow their large seeds and deposit them elsewhere in a pile of dung.

As they knock down trees and chew up huge amounts of plant material, both forest and savanna elephants change their environments in ways that create new habitat for other species.

"Both of them really could be considered gardeners tending to the vegetation, more than probably any other animal," Dr. Gobush said. "We just can't afford to lose them, really."

But there is some good news.

Savanna elephants are "thriving," Dr. Okita said, in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, which overlaps five countries in southern Africa. In some parts of Gabon and the Republic of Congo, forest elephant populations have stabilized or even grown. Where people are protecting elephants against poachers and planning land use carefully, Dr. Okita said, there has been progress.

He wonders, though, whether reversing the African elephants' decline will require not just policy, but also reaching people on a personal level and making them feel the urgency.

"At the moment we are getting to the minds of the people," Dr. Okita said. "But we need to get to the hearts."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Some Elephants in Africa Are Just a Step From Extinction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A key conservation group counted the continent's elephants as two species for the first time, highlighting the dire threat to forest elephants. While some African elephants parade across the savanna and thrill tourists on safari, others are more discreet. They stay hidden in the forests, eating fruit.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In the opening of Disney's 1941 classic animated film, Dumbo, we see a phalanx of storks (that's the technical term for a group of storks) carrying babies to their parents at the circus. Only Mrs Jumbo is waiting for her baby, until eventually Dumbo comes along. We all know that baby elephants aren't really flown in by storks - they'd be much too heavy for them to fly with - but, how much do you actually know about elephant pregnancies?

How long are elephants pregnant for?

How long an elephant is pregnant for depends a little on the species. African elephants are pregnant for up to 22 months, while Asian elephants are pregnant for 18-22 months. This is actually the longest gestation period of all mammals, which makes sense when we think about how big elephants are. A blue whale is only pregnant for 10-12 months, nearly half the length of an elephant pregnancy. Compare this to a hamster - those little guys are only pregnant for 16 days at a time!

How many babies can an elephant have at once?

Unlike other animals, elephants usually only have one baby at a time. However, there are cases where elephants can have twins, but this only happens in one per cent of elephant births. This is only slightly smaller compared to humans, where 1.6 per cent of births are twins. As you can imagine, carrying two huge babies can be very dangerous for the mother. However, we do see this happening, particularly with wild African elephants.

How big is a baby elephant when it's born?

At birth, elephants can weigh up to 268 pounds and stand about 3ft tall. That's about the same weight as a fully grown panda bear, reindeer or warthog. Asian elephants are a little skinnier at around 200 pounds, although they're about the same height. For context, human children don't get to 3ft tall until they're 2-3 years old. Imagine the poor stork having to carry all that weight!

How many babies can an elephant have?

Elephants give birth around every four years, and given their pregnancies can last around two years, that is quite a lot! Although elephants can live for 60-70 years, they typically only have about four or five babies during their lives. Even so, that's still a large chunk of their lifetime spent being pregnant.

When are elephant babies born?

When there's plenty of food about, elephants can be born throughout the year. However, in areas of Africa, for example, where there can be food shortages at certain times of year, elephants are typically born in the rainy season. A study on working elephants in Myanmar showed that 40 per cent of babies were born between December and March at the beginning of the dry season.

What is a baby elephant called?

A lot of the words we use for elephants are similar to those we use for cows. A baby elephant is called a calf, and then it grows up to be a cow if it's a girl, or a bull if it's a juvenile male. This makes sense because a group of elephants is also called a herd, just like a herd of cows.

Helping working elephants

Elephants are fascinating animals and a large number of them spend their lives working. Throughout Asia, these beautiful creatures are used as working animals in the logging or agricultural industries.
At SPANA, we support working animals across the world including working elephants, particularly in Myanmar. We're helping to improve the welfare of the 6,000 Asian elephants that are used in Myanmar's logging industry. Common issues facing these elephants include eye and skin conditions, as well as infectious diseases. SPANA vets provide vital care for these elephants, reaching remote and inaccessible jungle areas in their mobile clinics.
If you'd like to help working elephants, or other animals like donkeys and horses, you can do so by getting involved and help us to help these deserving animals.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the opening of Disney's 1941 classic animated film, Dumbo, we see a phalanx of storks (that's the technical term for a group of storks) carrying babies to their parents at the circus. Only Mrs Jumbo is waiting for her baby, until eventually Dumbo comes along.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Endangered Wolf Center | Living St. Louis

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Two experts with decades of experience in wolf ecology in the Northern Rocky Mountains said Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials should address a recent string of confirmed wolf kills of cattle and a dog "urgently and aggressively.''

The latest wolf kills came Tuesday and Wednesday early morning on the Gittleson Angus ranch north of Walden. The ranch is located near where a pair of wolves naturally migrated from Wyoming and had six pups last spring, marking the first time in 80 years wolves were born in the state.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed wolves killed one heifer and injured another badly enough that it had to be euthanized. Another heifer was injured but survived. The heifers weighed 1,200 and 1,400 pounds. The ranch suffered what's believed to be the state's first loss of livestock to wolves in 70 years a month ago when wolves killed a 550-pound calf.

Two weeks ago, the same pack killed a working cattle dog on an adjacent ranch.

Carter Niemeyer spent three decades studying gray wolf ecology, including killing wolves for the federal government, trapping wolves for reintroduction into the Northern Rockies and most recently helping ranchers with nonlethal means of dealing with depredating wolves. He is retired and serves on the Colorado Parks and Wildlife's Gray Wolf Reintroduction Technical Working Group.

He visited the area where the pack is located in Jackson County several months ago and talked to ranchers as part of the nonprofit Working Circle, which works with ranchers to coexist with wolves.

"It's a bad start knowing the polarization of the issue even before wolves are reintroduced there,'' said Niemeyer, who lives in Boise, Idaho. "Without serious nonlethal intervention, to think anything else will change is foolish. If this goes untreated, they will have a big problem.''
Wolves in Rocky Mountain National Park?: Some believe it should be a release site
Diane Boyd has spent four decades studying wolves, including studying the naturally recolonizing wolves in northwest Montana starting in 1979 and served as the large carnivore specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks before retiring.

She said studies have shown that once wolves kill livestock, it becomes a learned behavior and they are likely to kill livestock again. She said a small percentage of wolves kill livestock and that wolves account for "single-digit'' loss of livestock. However, she added some ranchers can see substantial losses and that any livestock loss impacts ranchers.

"This is a precedent-setting event because it's the first pack of wolves in Colorado to kill livestock in many years,'' said Boyd, who lives in northern Montana. "It has to be resolved quickly. It's a red flag for those who don't want wolves in the state. But it's also an incredible opportunity for pro- and anti-wolf people people to come together to keep wolves from killing livestock and to keep the wolves alive.''

'We are too late'

Rancher Don Gittleson said Walden-area Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials have been helping him since three of his cows were killed. He said state wildlife agency officers have helped guard his cattle at night to alleviate the situation.

He added he appreciates the help but that he and the area Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials had been discussing the issue months before his cattle were killed. He wished something would have been done sooner.

"We knew last spring we had pups,'' he said. "Now everybody is frantically trying to do something. I can tell you from my point of view, we are too late.''

The state wildlife agency said it is working with U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services and Defenders of Wildlife and with the rancher to minimize further loss of livestock.

Gittleson confirmed he was meeting with officials Friday to work on ways to haze the wolves, which is legal after the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission passed an emergency regulation to allow nonlethal hazing Jan.12.

Acceptable hazing measures to reduce immediate threats to livestock include scare devices and scare tactics such as propane cannons, vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, range riders, guard dogs, noisemakers and motion- and radio-activated guard devices.

Gittleson said the intent of the measure is good but that Colorado Parks and Wildlife has not been able to secure such devices to help him. He said those items were not available in Colorado and have to be purchased out of state because they weren't needed in Colorado until now.
Mountain lion safety advice: From an expert who has captured hundreds of them
"It's like giving out food stamps and you go to the grocery store and there isn't food on the shelves,'' he said.

He said the state wildlife agency has offered to pay for hazing efforts, but the agency refuted that Friday, writing in an email response to questions: "There is no current funding mechanism for defraying the cost of hazing techniques.''

Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it will compensate the ranchers for the loss of their livestock and cattle dog to wolves. It added that there have been no other wolf depredation incidents reported other than those confirmed at the two ranches.

Gittleson said he has taken measures to keep wolves from killing his cattle. He said the kills have been in small pastures close to his house. He added that other predators such as mountain lions, coyotes and bears are present but he believes only one calf has been lost to those predators since he moved to the ranch five years ago.

'It's very grim at the moment'

Niemeyer and Boyd said the use of a variety of hazing methods have proved to work for varying periods of time but that wolves can become accustomed to them.

"None of those are silver bullets,'' Niemeyer said. "But people can work together and make every effort to solve this or get territorial and make it political.''

They said a human presence such as range riders is one of the most effective methods because wolves avoid humans. But they said the method must be done consistently for as long as months before the behavior of the pack may change to looking at elk and deer in the area as easier prey than cattle.

They recommended finding a source of suitable people who would be willing to serve as range riders until the pack changes its behavior.
Wolf kill: Colorado wildlife officials confirm wolf kill of cow near Walden
Gittleson said neighbors have offered to help and his family has watched over the herd at night but that his wife and sons and their wives have jobs that allow them to come only on weekends, leaving him alone during the week. He said finding range riders will be one of the discussion points with state wildlife agency officials.

"We have been watching the cattle 24/7, but this is not sustainable for us,'' said Kim Gittleson, Don's wife. "It's very grim at the moment.''

Colorado Parks and Wildlife said there have been discussions between the Gray Wolf Reintroduction Technical Working Group that included the topic of relocation of wolves, noting it is rarely justified to move the predation challenge to a new location. The agency said current regulations do not allow for lethal control.

Gray wolves are no longer federally protected, and states where wolves were reintroduced like Wyoming and Idaho allow killing of wolves, as does Montana. Gray wolves are listed as endangered in Colorado and killing of wolves here is illegal.

Colorado voters narrowly passed a ballot initiative in 2020 to reintroduce wolves no later than the end of 2023. Gov. Jared Polis has said publicly he would like to see wolves reintroduced as early as this year. As part of the measure, ranchers will be compensated for confirmed wolf kills of livestock as well as working cattle dogs.

"This will impact reintroduction either way,'' Boyd said. "It will more likely be negative, but this issue can't go on. The quicker they resolve it, the better it will be.''

History of wolves in Colorado

1876: Colorado admitted to the Union. Wolf scalps and ears bring 50 cents.

1909-1915: U.S. Forest Service reports killing 113 adult and pup wolves in Colorado.

1934: Wolf excluded from game status in Colorado and is left unprotected.

1943: Last wolf in Colorado reportedly killed in Conejos County.

1973: Wolves are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.

1974: What was then the Colorado Division of Wildlife announces part of its objective is to provide protection and management to establish a minimum of 20 wolves in the state.

1982: Colorado Wildlife Commission releases a resolution against wolf reintroduction.

1991: San Juan Mountains added to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's "future consideration'' list of areas to be evaluated for wolf reintroduction.

1993: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service begins $50,000 feasibility study to determine if biological and social attitudes conducive to wolf reintroduction exist in the state.

1994: Feasibility study indicates the state could support up to 1,128 wolves. Colorado State University Human Dimensions in Natural Resources Unit's poll on wolf reintroduction indicates 71% of Coloradans polled approve of it.

1995: Colorado not included in Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Plan.

2005: Colorado Wildlife Commission adopts a state working group's Wolf Management Plan for the state.

2006: A study, after forecasting increased human population growth and road development, stated Colorado could support at least 400 wolves by 2025.

2016: Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission reiterates its opposition to wolf reintroduction.

2019: In July, a female wolf fitted with a GPS-tracking collar is confirmed north of Walden and to be from Wyoming's Snake River pack. It marks the first confirmed wolf sighting in four years.

2019: Rocky Mountain Wolf Project announces it will seek signatures to place on the 2020 ballot.

2020: In January, Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirms a pack of six wolves in Moffat County in extreme northwest Colorado. It is believed the pack wandered in from other states. As of early 2022, the pack is no longer there.

2020: In November, voters pass Proposition 114, a ballot initiative that calls for the reintroduction of wolves in Colorado no later than the end of 2023. The vote was 50.91% for, 49.09% against.

In January, U.S. Department of the Interior's rule to delist the gray wolf from federal protection under the Endangered Species Act takes effect. The move transfers management authority over the gray wolf in Colorado from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Wolves remain a state endangered species.

2021: In February, for the first time since Colorado took over management of wolves, a male wolf is captured via helicopter and fitted with a tracking collar.

2021: In spring, Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirms the first wolf pups born in Colorado in likely 80 years are discovered north of Walden. The parents are the two wolves seen in the area and fitted with tracking collars. Six pups are born.

2021: On Dec. 19, Colorado Parks and Wildlife receives a report of a calf carcass on a ranch north of Walden in Jackson County near where the pack of wolves have denned. The state wildlife agency confirms it to be a wolf kill that week, and it is believed to be the state's first wolf kill of livestock in more than 70 years.

2022: On Jan. 9, a rancher near where the calf was killed reports wolves killed his working cattle dog and injured another. The kill is confirmed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

2022: On Jan. 18-19, two pregnant heifer cows are confirmed killed by wolves (one was euthanized due to its injuries) on the same ranch that earlier lost a calf.
Reporter Miles Blumhardt looks for stories that impact your life. Be it news, outdoors, sports - you name it, he wants to report it. Have a story idea? Contact him at milesblumhardt@coloradoan.com or on Twitter @MilesBlumhardt. Support his work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
Colorado wolf information

Colorado Parks and Wildlife: Visit https://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/Wolves-in-Colorado-FAQ.aspx

Colorado State University: Visit https://sites.warnercnr.colostate.edu/centerforhumancarnivorecoexistence/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Wolf experts: Colorado officials should 'urgently' address recent wolf kills of livestock

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Two experts with decades of experience in wolf ecology in the Northern Rocky Mountains said Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials should address a recent string of confirmed wolf kills of cattle and a dog "urgently and aggressively.'' The latest wolf kills came Tuesday and Wednesday early morning on the Gittleson Angus ranch north of Walden.