Dennis received bachelor's degrees in communication and political science with a TAG degree in Spanish from The University of Akron in Ohio. He grew up in Ohio with two sisters and two brothers, one being his fraternal twin. He and his wife have two dogs: Bacio, and Cal. Dennis currently covers natural resource and environmental issues for The Daily Sentinel

An uncollared gray wolf that a federal wildlife official shot in mid-August in Rio Blanco County but was never found by authorities is the fifth yearling of a pack that formed in Colorado last year.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife released a final report Friday on the efforts to kill the animal following attacks on livestock. The report says genetic testing determined it is a male yearling and linked it to the Copper Creek Pack. That pack also has been involved in attacks on livestock.

Parks and Wildlife previously said that in a July 20 Rio Blanco County incident investigators found clear and convincing evidence that a wolf was responsible for the killing a lamb. They then found a preponderance of evidence of a wolf attack resulting in a dead lamb and dead ewe in subsequent events through Aug. 2. According to the report, on July 18 Parks and Wildlife was provided with photos taken by a local resident that were later verified to be that of an uncollared wolf in the area, whereas Parks and Wildlife has no collar data showing collared wolves in the area when the attacks occurred.

While Parks and Wildlife said in early August that the circumstances involved chronic depredation and warranted removal of the wolf, it held off on acting because the areas where the attacks occurred were under evacuation due to the Elk Fire East of Meeker. The report said the attacks occurred despite the affected livestock producer implementing nonlethal deterrence measures and removing attractants that could lure wolves.

Parks and Wildlife and federal Wildlife Services were able to begin looking for the wolf on Aug. 13 but couldn't find it.

They were then notified on Aug. 16 of an incident involving one dead lamb and three injured ones. One of the injured lambs had to be euthanized, and another later died, the report said.

According to the report, the investigation into the Aug. 16 incident gave Parks and Wildlife a better idea of the uncollared wolf's location. On Aug. 16, wildlife staff went to a location between where the sheep herd was bedded down for the night and the likely location of the wolf. They heard a wolf howl and used thermal optics to find the wolf, according to the report.

"Wildlife Services staff shot the wolf once with a .25-06 rifle," the report says.

Parks and Wildlife has previously said officials had tried to kill the wolf with a firearm, but wouldn't confirm whether it had been shot.

Wildlife staff searched for the wolf in rugged terrain but couldn't find it the day it was shot. They returned the next day with dogs and found evidence the wolf had been shot, "and followed it until the trail was lost," the report says.

On Aug. 18, officials returned and still couldn't find the wolf, but collected blood samples and a bone fragment for genetic analysis. It continued searching unsuccessfully for the wolf through Aug. 21.

The report doesn't indicate whether the wolf is believed to still be alive, based on the possible level of injury sustained when it was shot. But it says there haven't been additional confirmed livestock

depredations suspected of being caused by wolves or any additional reports of wolf

howls in the general area. A Parks and Wildlife spokesperson previously has said it was unclear if the wolf is dead.

The report also revealed the wolf's connection to the Copper Creek Pack that formed in Grand County last year when two wolves transported from Oregon as part of Colorado's wolf reintroduction program mated. Based on the results of genetic testing blood and tissue samples, Parks and Wildlife determined it was the fifth pup that wasn't captured when the rest of the pack was captured last year.

The rest of the pack was placed into a holding facility following attacks on livestock in Grand County.

The pack was later released into the wild, and this year has been involved in attacks on livestock in Pitkin County. Parks and Wildlife has been trying to find and kill a second member of that pack after previously killing another pack member in hopes of changing the pack's behavior.