The gray wolf used to live in most of the northern United States, including Colorado. In fairy tales, wolves can be pretty mean, but in real life, wolves are shy animals that are afraid of people. They are predators of deer, elk  and antelope. But as more people settled in the country, they killed off many of them, so wolves started eating the cattle and sheep that the settlers brought with them. Because the settlers needed those cattle and sheep for their own families, and because many people are afraid of wolves, people started killing wolves until they became endangered. Many places would even offer money to anyone who would kill a wolf. The last wolf in Colorado was shot 50 years ago. Now, the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife would like to see wolves reintroduced into their natural homes. This is happening already in Minnesota, but not in Colorado yet. There are lots of deer and elk in the Colorado mountains for them to eat now. In fact, many people feel that having the wolves back would be a help to the deer and elk herds . Without enough natural enemies, the herds get too big. Also, wolves and other predators usually catch the oldest or the sickest deer, so maybe they could help keep the other deer from getting sick and dying, too. But for ranchers , will the wolves come after cattle if there are plenty of deer to eat? It's hard to know. In Minnesota, they offer ranchers money to pay for animals that are known to have been killed by wolves. That way, the wolves have a chance, but the ranchers don't lose too much money. www.ks5u.com If you want to find out more about how to help wolves come home, click here. What's the ranchers' attitude to reintroducing gray wolves in Colorado?
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