Video evidence released Wednesday by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department as part of an investigation into a Daniel man who admitted to possessing a live wolf shows the muzzled, listless animal lying on the floor of what appears to be a bar.
In two short clips, a gray-coated wolf with what appears to be a commercial tracking and shock collar lies prone on a wooden floor with chatter in the background. The animal is barely moving, but clearly alive.
“He’s getting ready to get up again,” a man off camera says at one point.
A person can be seen standing near the animal, though it’s unclear who was speaking at the time.
State wildlife managers released the two short video clips and a partly redacted one-page law enforcement incident report to WyoFile in response to records request following accusations that Daniel resident Cody Roberts ran a wolf over with a snowmobile then took it to his home and the Green River Bar before killing the animal.
The case has received global attention and outrage. While records show Roberts was cited for illegal possession of wildlife, the video evidence offers the first official corroboration of accusations he muzzled the wolf and brought it to a public space.
The report, prepared by game warden Adam Hymas, names Roberts as the man who was illegally in possession of the wolf.
“On 3/4/24 ROBERTS agreed to meet with warden Haley and myself in Pinedale, which he did with a lawyer present,” the document states. “The violation for possession of a live wolf was explained to ROBERTS at that time.”
Roberts, according to the report, admitted to possessing the wolf on Feb. 29 in Daniel, a small community in the Green River Basin of northwestern Wyoming. The wolf was taken both to his house and an undisclosed business, the document states.
Roberts paid a $250 fine.
The Sublette County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday it was launching its own investigation into Roberts’ actions.
Roberts has not publicly discussed the case or the allegations surrounding it. He declined to speak with Emily Cohen, the reporter for community radio station KHOL, who first broke the story, and could not be located when a WyoFile reporter tried to interview him at his home.
According to allegations published by the Cowboy State Daily, Roberts acquired the wolf by running it over with a snowmobile. After being brought home and then into the Green River Bar, it was reportedly shot and killed behind the small town drinking hole.
A widely circulated photo that emerged last weekend shows a wolf with red tape tightly bound around its snout, but in the footage released by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department the collared wolf is wearing a commercial dog muzzle.
Over the past 10 days the tortured wolf has generated global condemnation, leading to thousands of calls to Sublette County law enforcement officers and threats of violence, according to county officials.
Animal welfare advocates who also received the footage through their own records request on Wednesday say they’re seeking additional footage and photographs of the Feb. 29 incident.
“We know there are more videos that show the horror of that evening. We are raising the reward to $5,000 for that video,” Wyoming Wildlife Advocates Executive Director Kristin Combs said. “We will ensure anonymity.”
This is one of the most horrific things I have ever seen. There needs to be stricter laws for this. That person should of gotten at least 5 years prison plus 100k fine and not be allowed in woods again. That poor baby wolf.
A $250 fine? That says a lot about
how much Wyoming cares about it’s
wildlife. To do something like this to
a wild animal, already afraid of being
around humans, is a serious crime.
I only hope the negative attention it brings to their total lack of empathy for wolves brings a change. Hopefully that poor wolfs death
won’t be for nothing. The more you
know about wolves, the more you
learn to respect them.
March 8, 2024
Barrasso, Lummis: Keep Gray Wolf Management in Wyoming
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, both R-Wyo., sent a letter to Martha Williams, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, expressing concern over the agency’s recent decision to develop a National Recovery Plan under the Endangered Species Act for gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountain area.
Currently, gray wolves are delisted and under the successful management of Wyoming and other states in the region, resulting in stable wolf populations. The agency has previously stated gray wolves do not meet the definition of an endangered or threatened species. A new National Recovery Plan is unnecessary and completely contradicts the agency’s previous statements that the wolf is recovered.
“Decisions from Washington that led to listing and delisting this species created a mess of management practices that the states have been left to clean up. Wyoming has managed wolf populations to appropriate levels,” the senators wrote. “Best management practices are led by people in the State who are directly impacted and have spent many years balancing stakeholder priorities … We request that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife continue to honor Wyoming’s state management of its wolves.”
Full text of the letter can be found here.
Dear Director Williams:
We are writing to express our concerns about the recent decision from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop a National Recovery Plan under the Endangered Species Act for gray wolves in the lower 48 states.
We are concerned that this unprecedented proposal will have harmful impacts on our home state of Wyoming, especially the farming and ranching communities there. Gray wolves are currently delisted and under state management in Wyoming, as well as several other states in the Northern Rocky Mountains area. This agreement has resulted in stable, established wolf populations. Best management practices are led by people in the State who are directly impacted and have spent many years balancing stakeholder priorities.
Decisions from Washington that led to listing and delisting this species created a mess of management practices that the states have been left to clean up. Wyoming has managed wolf populations to appropriate levels. They have the knowledge and expertise to continue management of this species.
In the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Notification of Finding document, the Service stated that gray wolves in the Western U.S. do not meet the definition of an endangered or threatened species. If the species does not qualify for listing, why has the agency decided to develop a National Recovery Plan for gray wolves? The Service’s objective remains unclear and uncertain. The proposed National Recovery Plan contradicts the agency’s own findings. It has created confusion for wildlife management officials.
It is in the best interest of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure state wildlife officials are allowed to continue effective management of gray wolf populations. Wyoming has been considered the golden standard for various environmental and wildlife management practices, and has a legacy of responsible stewardship. State governments and local agencies are better able to meet the needs of the local communities and native ecosystems.
We request that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife continue to honor Wyoming’s state management of its wolves. It is important to allow the state experts to continue management of gray wolf populations in the Northern Rockies.
###
Permalink: https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2024/3/barrasso-lummis-keep-gray-wolf-management-in-wyoming
This is the letter submitted stating Wyoming is doing a good job of management of the grey wolves which was far fetched and a non-truth. At the government level it’s all about politics and getting re-elected and if I could vote today I would definitely not vote for these two senators or if I lived in Pinedale would definitely not vote for Sommers. They are part of the reasons these wolves are not listed and should be protected as are the wolves in Utah and now Colorado. The Federal needs to get involved and take care of the wolves again. There is a party selling baseball caps with “chasin on the cap as well as a wolf and snow machine”. This has not been a one time happening in Sublette County and there should be a federal investigation into all who took part including the Aunt of the criminal who killed and tortured this wolve who was just a puppy. This should be a felony…he should have his guns taken away, hunting rights and not allowed to use a snowmobile in Wyoming as should all who were at the bar and knowingly participated by not calling the police while he was in there.
Well said, I agree with you.
Hopefully this is only the beginning
of a long list of problems to come
for this guy. And yes, the guys at the
bar should have intervened. This isn’t
high school, grown men shouldn’t
care what their friends will think if
they do the right thing.
This SOB needs to pay for doing this to that wolf he should go to prison for at least ten years make this happen we the people will not tolerate cruelty to our wild life period.
The whole United States and many other countries are horrified with such an awful, irresponsible, devastating, evil action by this 42 old man who sadly received just a 250$ fine fee.
We demand the state of Wyoming to do something about it. Wolves are living beings such as humans. We want justice. We can’t keep allowing people to take lives just because they want, because it’s a game or because the states see these atrocities as something normal and legal! We must respect and save the real owners of the land. We all know that those animals are extremely important for our ecosystem. Without nature any humans will thrive. So please, do something about it. We want justice for that poor little baby, who suffered and had her life taken by a monster.
This bothers me most because Wyoming is a beautiful state and a place I have always wanted to visit. This story is very disturbing and portrays the wrong image of a state that respects nature. I hope the good people of this state get the last word. I don’t know one hunter or real man who would capture an animal in this cowardly and demented fashion. People travel from all over the country to witness wilderness and not trashy, criminalist behavior.
Dede Raver….This state (WY) is not a state that respects wildlife in any way shape or form. Montana and Idaho aren’t either. You can kill wolves, or coyotes, and they want to add black bears and grizzly as well by trapping, snaring , use of coyote getters, aerial shooting from airplanes and/or helicopters, destruction of dens to include burning, night hunting by spotlight, pursuit by vehicle such as pickup or snowmobile, also the use of cyanide bombs. There is absolutely no sport in what tey do. All of these ways are torturous, barbaric and cruel ways of taking an animal who has no chance whatsoever in escaping. There is no place on this earth that should be taking animals in this way. None
Animal abuse and cruelty is animal abuse and cruelty no matter if an animal is a game animal or a predator. This guy gave everyone in Wyoming a black eye. No hunters I know would ever do such a thing. Most people in Wyoming have ethical values and they treasure and respect wildlife. To torture or torment any animal is a sign of a deeper sickness of the soul. This incident is equally sad and disturbing. It makes one wonder what we are teaching our children. Most hunters are trained to make a speedy kill to reduce cruelty and suffering. We protect our pet dogs from wanton cruelty but not a wolf (which is also a canine -Canidae)? The recent wolf incident also shows that state and federal laws are inadequate to protect wildlife from cruelty. Besides being shocked and dismayed we should all reflect on the beauty of all animals and abundance of this beauty in Wyoming. Then we should take steps to better protect that beauty.
This turkey got off with a ‘slap con the wrist’. I was working in Yellowstone in 1995, when the first wolf pack was released after an ‘extensive’ environmental study-and got to meet a couple of people involved in the project.
I returned in ’97 to work a 2nd season and on numerous mornings walking from my dorm to work at Canyon Village was treated to the awe inspiring sounds of ‘wolfsong’ in the distance. They re an integral part of the ecosystem and deserve our protection!
Our understanding of “predators” needs revision.
As long as “Wyoming’s management of Wolves” is killing a certain number each season as a population control measure, it perpetuates the idea that Wolves deserve whatever treatment homosapiens want to dole out. Therein lies the problem. Its an instutionalized permission system.
In this case the person is simply sick.
The wolf had on a shock collar!!
My gosh what a deprave “hunter” Cody Roberts is.
Wolves are essential to a healthy land. They cull out the sick and diseased animals… something that the greedy stockmen forgot about already. God knows the stockmen don’t want to go the extra mile to live and work with nature. The mere act of separating calves from heartbroken mothers is aggregious. I am sure that they will pay natures price for that eventually.
Don’t get me wrong… I am not against hunting. Hunting has it’s uses, i.e., food, leather, fur for winter climates, but the responsible way is where one hunts and kills without excessive pain of the animal. It is frieghtening and alarming what hunting has become for “some people” who have no morals to God and creation. This is proof that hunting for sport fosters in some a type of bloodlust. The desire to kill in those individuals becomes excitement which then progresses to torture, and so on just like an addiction. There are “some people” who take it too far and worse as in this case. What humane individual would think it was OK to torture any animal this way? This didn’t even look like a full grown wolf, more like a yearling. This hunter and the all the people in the bar should be penalized. Except for any that submit videos. At least they may have a small conscience left and realize that something has to be done.
Any one that thinks this torture is OK, is just as sick and inbreed as Cody Roberts.
There’s a teaching I believe in that says there’s only love and fear when it’s all boiled down. So much fear around here. I can’t help but to think of and compare this evil and sick act to Mathew Shepard.
Cody Roberts’ actions are right up there with the worst humans have to offer. No steward of the land he must think he owns.
Step it up prosecutor ~no justice no peace
Cody Roberts is welcome over in Meeteetse anytime and I’d be proud to buy him a beer! One less wolf to smoke!
You take this — to Meeteetse and keep him there! Almost all of us in Wyoming do NOT want him here. I am not wolf lover, but NO animal should be tortured or abused.
Nope. This little $250 Game and Fish fine burst of entertainment for Cody Roberts and family is not over yet. If he had just kept the cameras off the “game” he bagged…only $250 would be out of pocket but…troubles a’ comin;, the taped mouth photo and bar video with a leash and electronic collars placed on this animal will elevate the charges to animal cruelty. You heard it from me, Jake Sax
Probably not first time. Gee I feel sad for wildlife in Wyoming. Snowmobiles. High powered scopes and rifles. You know Cody had to have the best
I certainly hope he has his hunting privileges revoked for life and charges are made to the bar owner.
What a horrible example to the youth in that vicinity and across the country on how to treat animals. I agree he should lose his hunting privileges and he also in the bar should be charged something for allowing this to go on in there hehe haha that’s so funny moment.
One good thing might come of this: the elimination in Wyoming law of the predator zone for wolves.
A bit of history. The Final Rule for Reintroduction of the Gray Wolf, dated 1994, established the entire State of Wyoming as the recovery area. Therefore, a condition for declaring the wolf recovered would be a management system for the wolf throughout the entire State. When wolf delisting came up for the first time in the early 2000s, the Stockgrowers and other opposed to wolves being in Wyoming at all came up with the trophy game/predator concept and pushed it through the Wyoming Legislature to lock wolves up in Yellowstone. The concept was absurd of course–it violated the very spirit and letter of the Endangered Species Act, not to mention wolf ecology–and conservation groups opposed it. Oddly though, none of the groups, Earthjustice included, made the simple legal argument that the concept violated the 94 Final Rule, which Wyoming politicians had mostly accepted as the best deal they could get in the circumstances. The groups certainly knew it violated the Final Rule’s requirement for statewide management, as I pointed it out to them repeatedly. But they wanted to make complicated genetic arguments, and lost.
So, the politics of wolves ensured that the Fish and Wildlife Service would accept the predator zone concept and delist the wolf; it was the Bush administration after all, in which all kinds of bad things happened to conservation. It was a given that bad things would happen to wolves because of it; that’s what the Stockgrowers wanted.
Of course, delisting/listing as gone back and forth over the last 20 years and we’re still mired in the legal mess of wolf management. Had Wyoming implemented trophy game status for wolves throughout the State, as the Final Rule required, the arguments over wolves would now be on the back burner on a simmer. Then we could put more attention to more important things, like getting rid of elk feedgrounds.
In any case, it seems that this despicable incident–running a wolf down with a snowmobile, further torturing it, and finally killing it in a back alley as if it were a common rat–has finally brought a level of national and international attention to the “wolf as predator” policy that might, just might, see a legislative end put to it. Even over at the right wing Cowboy State Daily, there’s a article that argues for the elimination of the predator policy and making wolves trophy game throughout the State.
Here’s hoping.
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/04/10/advocacy-groups-could-use-wolf-torment-story-to-push-for-re-listing-wolves/
The first time i visited Wyoming i was a writing resident at the Ucross Ranch in Sheridan. The Wild West! I was excited. During my stay the calves on the ranch were separated from their mothers and taken away to be fattened up, i guess . The mother cows cried and bawled for hours.As a city slicker i had no idea of the cruelty involved in raising beef , which at that time i still ate. It was heart- rending to hear the cows suffering like that. While we are thinking about the poor Sublette wolf, we might consider all the ways we torture animals in this culture. There are chickens in tiny cages …and fish left to die on the bank. The man who tortured the wolf should be forced to eat one…
While it is not simple crime & drama that occurs regularly, it probably sold more news that any other item on that day’s news, definitely good for the press!
The people involved in this incident need psychological evaluations and appropriate treatment. They are detrimental their community and society in general.
Chuck, I believe the actions he took were both illegal and immoral—reprehensible but I knew Cody and liked him. We may get some charge from our sense of righteousness but shouldn’t believe we know enough make global judgements. Be incensed but be careful when standing in judgment.
This may be a good time to also reevaluate the USDA taxpayer funded predator control programs. Aerial gunning of coyotes is neither ethical nor sporting, and amounts to yet another government subsidy for agricultural interests.
And coyote whacking I think that is what it is called
Or perhaps it might be a good time to evaluate the impact on food producers of deliberately planting predators to kill of their livestock. I do NOT approve of what was done, but neither can I approve of planting wolves in ranch country to create problems for the food producers in the state.
Florida Man would like to thank Wyoming Man for taking his place on the America’s Top Doofus hook for a couple weeks…
Horrendous cruelty to that poor, tortured wolf. I can’t unsee this ever. Sheriff and county attorney , you now have hard evidence to pursue and charge Cody Roberts. Also, shooting the wolf with a gun behind the bar is in the town limits of Daniel, and while drinking is even more evidence for your investigation. Do your job, please.
I’m not justifying this by any means. It was idiotic. But just to be clear since a lot of people reading this aren’t from around here, Daniel is not an incorporated town. There would be no violation in shooting a gun in Daniel. Bringing a firearm into a bar would be a violation of Wyoming statute, if a firearm was brought into the actual building.
Amen. And while you are at it, shut the hole down that allowed it. Bringing wild animals into an eating and drinking establishment is disgusting. I ate there on vacation and just about barfed when I saw and heard they had animals in there and this wasn’t the first time. I am completely GROSSED out. That is public health violation. Shut that place down.
This is the FREE, American Dream, Democratic, Humane, Peaceful loving, Love thy Neighbour, etc. Example of American Citizen, which is NOT held to Consequence for their Actions? Waring, violence, etc. all taught by governing, educational, media systems for self purpose, when needed, but dismayed when caught on other levels of hidden society create such and other monsters. Something needs to change in the entire world. Separate the Wheat from the Chaff. Should this person, or any others alike, who carry out such Horrific Behaviours, be it in action, thought, one needs to question, how far and what would they do to the top of the animal chain, Human. These and such others should remember the line from their Sunday School…. Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You. The Universe takes care of all Good and Evil in her own time. May the Creatures harmed be in these peoples corners of their minds Forever.
We all must keep the pressure on lawmakers and law enforcement to punish this monster to the full extent of the law. Wyoming needs to change their animal cruelty and wildlife laws NOW
A muzzle, electronic training collar, a tracking collar and a leash was put on this animal, then dragged into a bar? Are you kidding me? Unbelievably sick and sadistic. This situation has expanded way beyond a cruel yet legal extermination of a classified predator out in the field. Bringing this injured wolf into someone’s home and then into a commercial business, adorning it with all these “pet” gadgets elevates this situation way above a simple predator eradication. Cody Roberts is indeed a person to stay away from but I’d also hold the business owner equally culpable for allowing this to occur on not only on, but inside their property. And before someone paints me with the “liberal” label, I’m a lifelong GOP and hunter here in Wyoming
Personally, I believe that the ignorance of this act of torture to the wolf is beyond inhumane. In my opinion I think the perpetrator needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for animal cruelty. Additionally, I would like to think this would be the case if the individual had performed the same on a domesticated animal, thus it should be the same or worse for the blatant arrogance of this individuals act on the wolf. I am also curious why there was no intervention from those that were witnessing such. Seriously I am disgusted by the act, humiliated by the reflection on our great State of Wyoming and furious at the slap on the hands he received from the legal system.
Charge him with public endangerment if nothing else.Find all the charges that he can be charged with.
This is not hunting. It’s not bravery or toughness. It’s neither funny or cool. It’s cruelty pure and simple. It’s a stupid, arrogant, heartless, and profane act by a man who clearly likes to be a bully and the center of attention. That animal’s eyes are full of pain and sadness and resignation to imprisonment. The man who did this and the people who stood around in a bar and laughed and gawked and let him brag about his cruel act are despicable.
So…a predator (wolf), doesn’t fall under Wyoming animal abuse/neglect laws…yet, the animal in this video has a muzzle, an off the shelf gps tracking collar plus a shock collar. Add to the fact that this animal was in someone’s home and also inside a commercial business (Green River Bar), now you have in my eyes a domesticated animal. Here ya go, Sublette Co. Sheriff and Prosecutor, smack the culprit hard with the power of the law
I think you’re right. Even before seeing the video, I thought he should be legally treated the same as any pet you have custody of, and taken care of the way humans take care of their pets. Maybe the man will be haunted by what he saw in the wolf’s eyes.
This individual needs the book thrown at him along with all the people in the bar who stood by and watched this poor animal suffer. Sick!!!
As a westerner, I love Wyoming and its culture. Smoke all the wolves you want. However, no animal deserves torture.