Editor’s Note: At the time of publishing, Wyoming Game and Fish Department had not responded to Buckrail‘s inquiries. However, the original article has been updated to include pertinent information provided from WGFD shared with Buckrail after publication.
DANIEL, Wyo. — Troubling reports of a wolf being tormented and killed by a resident of Sublette County have been circulating this week.
According to KHOL, Cody Roberts was fined $250 for possessing a gray wolf, bringing the animal into his residence and then inside a local business in Daniel before killing it.
Cowboy State Daily reported that Roberts “ran the wolf down with a snowmobile on Feb. 29, disabling it. Instead of killing the animal on the spot, he reportedly kept the wolf and took it back to his residence, then to the bar — before finally taking it out behind the bar and killing it.”
Reports of the man tormenting the wolf and taping its mouth shut have yet to be substantiated by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD).
WGFD did confirm, however, that an individual had been found in possession of a live wolf and was cited after an investigation.
“The individual was cited for a misdemeanor violation of Wyoming Game and Fish Commission regulations, Chapter 10, Importation and Possession of Live Warm-Blooded Wildlife,” WGFD Public Information Officer Breanna Ball told Buckrail via email. Ball also noted that state statutes deem any information regarding wolves taken in Wyoming “is not a public record,” as well as the state stipulation that “animal cruelty charges are not applicable to predatory animals.”
State law prohibits the possession of wolves, though it is legal to hunt them in most of the state, including Sublette County. Wyoming’s wolves were removed from the endangered species list in 2017.
