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Hi John,
A Colorado wolf, likely from the first breeding pack there in 80 years, unknowingly crossed an invisible border into one of the most dangerous places imaginable: Wyoming.
The wolf was promptly killed—and Wyoming officials won't even admit it.
This treatment of Colorado wolves can't stand. Please help us fight back with a donation to the Saving Life on Earth Fund.
Thanks to previous Center litigation that restored federal wolf protection across most of the United States, killing a wolf in Colorado can bring a $100,000 fine and a year in prison.
But in Wyoming's "predator zones," it's open season on wolves year-round. Almost 90% of the state is wolf-killing territory.
So when a wolf likely from the North Park Pack wandered over the border into Wyoming earlier this year, it was fair game.
This has happened before. In 2020 an adult gray male and adult black female migrated into Colorado. In the spring of 2021, they produced six black pups — becoming the North Park pack and living not far from the Wyoming border.
It's believed that three of the first wolf pups from that pack wandered into Wyoming and were killed.
Now wildlife officials want to keep this most recent killing a secret. Hiding behind a law that conceals the identify of wolf-killers, Wyoming won't even confirm this wolf's death.
But people on the ground know. One person said he'd seen pictures of it.
Wyoming's blatant disregard for wolves and wildlife is why we're trying to secure Endangered Species Act protection for wolves across the northern Rockies. And it's why we're challenging the funding that states in the region get for wildlife management.
The Center helped lead the initiative to restore wolves to Colorado. By next year, about a dozen new wolves will be reintroduced there, far from the Wyoming border.
But the North Park Pack also deserves a chance to thrive. Pack members shouldn't be killed for wandering over a line they can't see.
Our fights for wolves and other threatened species are long and ongoing. We never lose hope or give up.
But we do need you with us.
Please give now to the Saving Life on Earth Fund.
For the wild,
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