WYCAP Latest News
46 Drivers, 3,271 Miles, 3 Cats: Inside Cross-Country Pet Transport
On a Saturday evening, three brave cats pulled off I-80 into Laramie in the back of a Ford Escape. The two crates that held the three cats were squeezed into the car with inches to spare. The transfer between vehicles was swift. What was happening here? Illegal sale of cats for experiments? Sale of cats to cult followers? No, nothing nefarious.
Dam Good Work: WYCAP Teams Up for Wyoming's Beavers
Research shows that beaver activity can increase water retention by hundreds of millions of cubic feet of water in a single watershed, reducing flooding and creating natural fire and drought resistance. The benefits of beavers to landowners and agricultural producers, hunters, anglers, recreationalists, wildlife advocates, and all water users across society are innumerable.
Celebrating Women Who Lead in the Wild: Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation Honors Four Conservation Trailblazers
On the evening of August 18, the rooftop deck of the Jackson Hole History Museum filled with conservationists, volunteers, and community members for the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation's annual Leaders in the Wild event. Guests enjoyed hors d'oeuvres and drinks with a view over Jackson. The evening honored women whose work is shaping the future of wildlife conservation in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
On Mardy's Front Porch: Miriam Horn Brings the Story of George Schaller Home to the Murie Ranch
On August 11, 2026, people (and one very well-behaved puppy named Bella) gathered on the historic front porch of the Murie Ranch in Grand Teton National Park. They came to hear author Miriam Horn talk about legendary field biologist George Schaller. The evening was part of Teton Science Schools' Murie Ranch Front Porch Series, presented in partnership with the Grand Teton National Park Foundation.
A Fed Bear Is a Dead Bear: Why Keeping Wildlife Wild Matters More Than Ever This Fall
On September 11, 2026, Grand Teton National Park staff euthanized a black bear near Delta Lake, one of the park's most popular backcountry destinations. The bear had not attacked anyone, in fact it had nothing wrong. It died because people gave it human food.
Park officials were blunt about who was responsible: this bear was lethally removed because of poor decisions made by park visitors.
Building Like a Beaver: How Volunteers Are Restoring Wyoming's Streams with Beaver Dam Analogs
For thousands of years, beavers were the engineers of the West's streams. Their dams slowed rushing water, spread it across valley floors, and created lush, wet corridors full of willows, fish, birds, and wildlife.
Conservationists are borrowing a page from the beaver's playbook. Using simple, hand-built structures called beaver dam analogs, crews of staff and volunteers are helping streams heal.
A Code of the West for Animals
Here's the thing about the Code of the West. When I ask who originated the code, I get blank looks. A typical response is: "Well, I don't know the fellow's name, but I assume it was written around the time we settled the West." That's partly right. Cowboys and ranchers of the 1870s and '80s had expectations about keeping your word and sticking by your outfit, but nobody wrote them down as a formal code. That job fell to novelists like Owen Wister and Zane Grey, whose 1934 novel was titled The Code of the West, and to Hollywood after them. The ten-point list that became our state's official code of behavior is far more recent.
Cyanide on the Landscape: the M-44 is Back
It’s not smart to leave cyanide lying about on public land. Cyanide is a potent toxin that, in small amounts (i.e., <1 g), causes lightheadedness, giddiness and rapid breathing, progressing to stupor, spasms, convulsions, and death. Symptoms of acute sodium cyanide poisoning develop rapidly. A published study conducted by personnel from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the 1980s used M-44 devices (see below) and penned dogs and coyotes to establish a timeline. Symptoms develop at 32 seconds of exposure. Animals are dead within two minutes.
Understanding Wyoming's 2026 Wolf Hunt: A Population at the Federal Floor
Wyoming's 2026 Trophy Zone wolf hunting quota was cut by 50%, from 44 tags down to 22. That decision was driven by an event most Wyomingites probably didn't hear much about: a severe disease outbreak that reshaped the wolf population in ways the state's usual harvest calculations don't typically account for. Here's what happened, how the state is responding, and why WYCAP believes more protection is still needed.
Goshen 14 Update: Fourteen Horses, System Gaps, and a Preventable Crisis
Horse hoarding occurs in Wyoming. It is a complex form of animal cruelty involving the accumulation of more horses than can be properly cared for. This can result in neglect, malnutrition, and illness, often by the owner's delusional belief that he or she is saving them.
Take Action! Tell Senator Lummis to Oppose H.R. 556
While many groups are pressing policymakers to more quickly phase out lead ammunition and fishing tackle and transition to non-toxic alternatives, some Republican lawmakers in Congress are pushing to pass H.R. 556, the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act, that would block any federal agency from restricting the use of lead ammunition.
Changing Cultural Norms and Attitudes: Our Recent Outreach Efforts
“You know, looking at your pull-up posters really makes me uneasy. When I asked myself why, I realized it was because I had no idea about any of these awful animal cruelty cases. Thanks for educating me and for what you do”. It was one of many similar comments I received recently while staffing a booth at the annual meeting of The Wildlife Society in Sheridan, Wyoming.
A Good Bullet Should Kill Just Once
Hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific articles exist on the impacts on wildlife of lead poisoning from lead-based bullets, lead shot, and fishing tackle. The insidious, long-term impacts of lead poisoning have been known for centuries. Lead in paint and children’s toys has been regulated in the U.S. for years. But lead ammunition and tackle remain largely unregulated. Lead poisoning was first identified as a disease in wild birds in an 1842.
The Gentle Art of Not Killing Crows
Wyoming Game and Fish Department has an official hunting season for crows: Nov. 1 to Feb. 28. Killing is by firearm, archery, or falconry. No license required, no bag limit. A departmental advisory informs hunters about distinguishing crows, which can be killed, from ravens, which are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Ravens have wedge-shaped tails, are more skilled at soaring, have stouter beaks, are larger than crows, and vocalize differently. It is more a croak than a caw.
Lessons Learned From Cody Roberts and the Wolf He Tormented
Cody Roberts, the Wyoming rancher who tortured and killed a wolf in Daniel, Wyoming in 2024, was finally sentenced. Sweetwater County District Judge Richard Lavery sentenced Roberts to 18 months’ probation as part of a plea deal. If Roberts meets the plea deal requirements, he will stay out of prison.
Moonlit Pages
The Wolf Moon rises in the deep of winter, when the land is stripped back to bone and breath fogs the air. Sap runs inward and life listens closely to itself. This moon has long been burdened with fear. Wolves, after all, have been cast as villains- devourers, threats, monsters of the margins. Shadows pacing just beyond the village fire. Teeth in the dark. Hunger with a face.
And yet. This fear has never belonged to the wolf.
Decent Guys Don’t Torture Animals
The torture of a wolf by Cody Roberts is not an isolated incident of individual depravity. It is the logical outcome of a system that has normalized violence toward predators. Cruelty can be trivialized and accepted, as it was the night Cody Roberts ran the young female wolf to exhaustion and taped her mouth shut.
When California Pulled the Trigger: The Tragedy of the Beyem Seyo Wolves
The story of wolf recovery in California took a devastating turn in October 2025, when the state sanctioned the killing of the Beyem Seyo pack—the first authorized wolf killings in modern times. Four adults were killed, three pups remain unaccounted for, and two others are reportedly within the California Department of Fish and Wildlife system awaiting transfer to sanctuary.
Urgent Colorado ‘Furbearer’ Reforms Needed to Protect Wildlife
The Center for Biological Diversity recently released a report warning that Colorado is flying blind on wildlife killing because the state doesn’t require basic reporting on pine martens, ringtails, foxes and other animals, even as hunters and trappers kill unlimited numbers each year.
Brigitte Bardot, a Seal of Approval—And Wyoming Critters in Distress
I didn’t even know she was still alive. But when the announcement came that Brigitte Bardot had passed away in late December 2025, I read her obituary. In doing so, I remembered one thing and learned another.