Colorado mountain lions, bears, wolves, coyotes, and bobcats are natural predators that kill wild animals, domestic livestock, and sometimes pets to survive.

Relatively few animals end up killed by these predators. But if they do, their owners can financially recover their losses thanks to Colorado law.

The long-standing law requires Colorado Parks and Wildlife to compensate ranchers, farmers and landowners for damage caused by big game animals, including mountain lions, bears, elk and deer, through its Gambling Damage Program.

More recently, the 2020 measure to reintroduce wolves also included methods of compensating livestock producers for wolves that killed or injured animals.

Those programs have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to Coloradans following the depredations of recent years. But not all the money comes out of the same fund, and the outcome of a statewide vote could alter what types of depredations are eligible.

Funding for pumas and bears is different from that for wolves

Funding for livestock losses caused by cougars and bears comes from an entirely different fund than wolves.

Compensation through the Game Damage Program covers loss of livestock, hay, crops, beehives, fences and other materials. The program covers damage caused by more than just predators, as damage caused by elk and deer is also eligible for financial compensation.

The program paid Coloradans $748,337 for 184 claims in the 2022-23 fiscal year, which was 22% more than the average over the past five years, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The agency also helps livestock producers with materials to prevent damage to game animals, including fencing.

Compensation for damage caused by mountain lions, bears, elk and deer is funded entirely by hunting and fishing license revenues through an annual allocation from Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Game Cash Fund. Hunting big game animals requires a separate hunting license for each species.

Coyotes and bobcats are considered small game animals and therefore there is no compensation for damage caused by these predators. Licenses are required to hunt coyotes, bobcats, and all other small game species under the same license.

The 2020 ballot measure calling for the reintroduction of wolves uses separate funds for livestock losses.

By law, revenue from the sale of hunting or fishing licenses cannot be used to fund wolf depredation reimbursements. Instead, compensation comes from the state’s General Fund, the Species Conservation Trust Fund, the Colorado Nongame Conservation and Wildlife Restoration Cash Funds and other funds for nongame species.

Would the state continue to pay private parties for damage caused by mountain lions if Proposition 127 passes?

No.

Proposition 127 would make hunting mountain lions and bobcats illegal in Colorado. There are provisions in the proposal that would allow the legal killing of any of the animals if they endanger or harm humans or livestock.

But, according to Blue bookIf the measure passes and cougar hunting is no longer allowed, cougars would be removed from the definition of big game, making landowners ineligible to receive state reimbursement for any damage caused by cougars.

This is how much Colorado has paid in compensation for mountain lions, bears and wolves

For the fiscal year that began July 1, 2022, which was the last year of data available, Colorado Parks and Wildlife paid nearly $400,000 in compensation for livestock losses to mountain lions and bears, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife .

For wolves, the state paid $24,404 total in 2021-22 and $16,106 in 2023 for livestock deaths or injuries, according to the state wildlife agency. Wolf predation site. There is additional money set aside for a variety of non-lethal wolf equipment and materials.

None of the compensation fund pools met their annual allocations during these years.

Comparison of the cost of compensation paid for claims for livestock depredation by cougars, bears and wolves

• Mountain lions: $123,345 for 77 sheep, 51 goats, 22 alpacas, four llamas, four turkeys, one cow, one pig and eight other multispecies. It is estimated that there are 4,000 pumas in the state.

• Bears: $199,863 for 721 sheep, 72 birds, 15 goats, seven cattle, a llama, a horse, a rabbit, a fallow deer and 94 multispecies. There are an estimated 20,000 black bears in the state.

• Lions/bears (any): $74,666 for 234 sheep and one cow.

• Wolves: $40,510 from 2021-2023. Those depredations included 13 cows, three sheep and three working cattle dogs. The known number of wolves fluctuated between a high of eight and a low of two during this period.

Paying for Livestock Losses to Predators: What a Rancher and Wolf Advocate Says

Gary Skiba is a wolf advocate who served on the state-selected Wolf Recovery Stakeholder Group, current wildlife manager for the San Juan Citizens Alliance, and former Colorado Department of Wildlife employee. (now Colorado Parks and Wildlife) for a long time.

He’s not overly interested in the state’s Hunting Damage Program, but said it’s indicative of the influence of agriculture in Colorado.

“It’s an established program that would be very difficult to get rid of because of the way we do business in the state,” Skiba told the Coloradoan. “You can find scientific evidence that programs that compensate for losses do not change tolerance toward wolves. I get it, it’s a burden to file a damage claim. It’s like if you were in a car accident and insurance paid for everything.” But it’s still a bummer (expletive).”

Tim Ritschard, a Grand County rancher and president of the Middle Park Cattlemen’s Association, said the program helps protect ranchers’ assets, allowing them to do what they do for a living.

He said it’s rare for ranchers to lose a lot of livestock to coyotes and that mountain lions and bears are even less of a problem. He said that’s different for sheep, which he said can be significantly affected by bears and coyotes.

The landscape’s newest predator, wolves, has become a problem for ranchers in Grand, Jackson and Routt counties, with 17 cows and nine sheep confirmed killed by wolves since early April, according to the Office of Parks and Wildlife Colorado Wilderness. wolf predation page.

“Bears are mostly scavengers and eat berries and mountain lions love deer and elk,” Ritschard said. “They are different from wolves, which kill any animal.”

This article originally appeared in the Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado predators like lions, wolves and bears come with a price