Will Colorado be allowed to kill its new endangered wolves? Maybe

It might seem counterintuitive to be thinking about killing off animals that a state is actively trying to reintroduce into the wild, but right now Colorado Parks and Wildlife is exploring that option. 

Right now wolves are listed as endangered and protected, meaning killing one will bring down the full force of the legal system on someone's head. But with something called a 10(J) amendment that would suddenly become a possible legal action, provided the right hoops were jumped through first. 

"That gives flexibility in managing those rules that wouldn't otherwise be afforded in an endangered species," Marj Nelson, Deputy Assistant Regional Director for Ecological Services in the Mountain Prairie Region with Fish and Wildlife Service explained about 10(J). 

The idea being sometimes when a species is reintroduced, it doesn't always go as smoothly as it's intended to. 10(J) gives CPW the ability to move or kill packs that are becoming problematic (as in eating or killing things they shouldn't; livestock, pets, people, etc.)

U.S. F&W said it has done an initial round of public meetings to gather how the public feels about the idea and is taking the results back for study. Eventually, it will create a rough draft of what it believes the impact of a 10(J) amendment would do for Colorado wolves. 

Still, the option to have wolves killed is exactly what some Coloradans have been begging for. CBS News Colorado Mountain Newsroom Reporter Spencer Wilson spoke with a rancher in January who explicitly said he believed no hazing tactics would be sufficient to keep wolves from eating his cows (although he was willing to try anything.) He believed the only option that would actually work would be to shoot at the wolves. 

While 10(J) does afford the possibility to kill the wolves who are becoming problematic, it's explicitly in the hands of CPW, so while it's not ironed out right now it would be assumed that is a job CPW would take on themselves. As we've explained though, the final draft of the proposition has not been finalized. 

For the majority of Coloradans who voted for wolves to be reintroduced and who might be upset with this development, Nelson said they needed to zoom out. 

"We're looking at the big picture. What is the long-term success of conservation of the wolves and what do we need to do?" Nelson asked. 

"What are the strategies we need to put in place in order to have long term success?"