![Daniel is part of a close-knit ranching community in western Wyoming.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4471x2981+0+0/resize/1100/quality/100/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F95%2F8a%2F09d745ec4e02815a6622a5236f89%2Fdaniel-sign.jpg)
Daniel is part of a tight-knit ranching community in western Wyoming.
Caitlin Tan/Wyoming Public Media
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Caitlin Tan/Wyoming Public Media
Wyoming is home to hundreds of wolves, most of which live in or near Yellowstone National Park. They are protected and attract large tourists.
But elsewhere in the state, wolves are still often condemned as predators and a threat to livestock industries. Therefore, in most of Wyoming, killing wolves is legal year-round without a license.
However, a man who recently did just that is currently under investigation. That's because the animal's death sparked outrage around the world.
Video taken inside a bar in Daniel, Wyoming, population 108, in late February shows a muzzled, leashed and seemingly injured wolf lying on a wooden floor. Bar patrons chatter in the background. Another video shows the animal briefly attempting to growl before a man grabs its snout and leans in to kiss it.
![Image from video of Cody Roberts bringing a live wolf to a bar in Daniel, Wyoming, in February 2024.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/700x659+0+0/resize/1100/quality/100/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F10%2F43%2Fd323291146fca80c7c11659447c1%2Fcody-roberts.jpg)
Image from video of Cody Roberts bringing a live wolf to a bar in Daniel, Wyoming, in February 2024.
Screenshot from NPR
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Screenshot from NPR
That man is Cody Roberts, who comes from a long local ranching family. According to local media reports, Roberts used a snowmobile to chase away the wolf, which is legal in Wyoming if the animal is killed.
But this wolf didn't die like that. One source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for personal safety reasons, said Roberts shot the animal later that night. But what happened in his bar before he shot the wolf became a huge story.
Someone at the bar that night reported Roberts to a local game warden. They ticketed him for illegal possession of a live wolf and he paid a $250 fine.
global threat
Jackson Hole Community Radio broke the story a month after the incident. Last April, video of the bar incident spread worldwide online.
Cody Roberts isn't talking to reporters, but people all over the world are talking about what happened at Daniel's Bar.
“I’ve had death threats from Ireland, Russia, Japan and Australia,” said another man named Cody Roberts, who had nothing to do with the case, nor was he connected to any other Roberts, and lived about 100 miles away. I live. This is a road in Taine, Wyo.
“I don’t know how many messages I got,” he said angrily.
Some people visit his Facebook page different Roberts.
“This guy said, ‘You’re a psychotic wolf tormentor. It's like saying, 'please commit suicide.' ” he read.
People also threatened his family. He shared his parents' phone numbers online and even threatened to “run over their grandson”.
Roberts said she responded to every message explaining that she was. ~ no same person.
“One woman went and said, ‘I don’t care if you’re not right, just do me a favor and put a bullet in his head and this will all go away,’” Roberts read.
He said he was also disappointed in other people's work Cody Roberts did just that, but I actually think these threats are worse.
“Does he deserve everything he gets? “No, I don’t think so,” he said. “You know, he’s still human.”
‘Boycott Wyoming’ became a popular hashtag. Another graphic shows the Wyoming flag superimposed over it with the words “Wyoming State of Animal Cruelty and Torture.” Similar comments abound on the Wyoming Tourism Office Facebook page. This page typically posts almost daily, but has been virtually silent throughout April.
Local businesses are also facing backlash, with some businesses only leaving one-star reviews simply because they are located in the same area where the incident occurred.
local anger
Cali O'Hare was the only newsroom employee at her local newspaper who had to write about this. Pinedale Arrest.
A reporter for the Pinedale Roundup newspaper said she faced local backlash after writing about the wolf incident.
Caitlin Tan/Wyoming Public Media
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Caitlin Tan/Wyoming Public Media
“The letters I received were very diverse. I said things like, ‘The world is watching you.’ You know – no pressure,” O’Hare half-joked. “It’s not just a person’s reputation, their family, their livelihood, but also their community’s reputation and their perception around the world.”
This level of interest has never been heard of in this close-knit community known for cowboys and sprawling sagebrush. Needless to say, everyone knows everyone.
“The joke is that there are three levels of separation,” O’Hare said, adding that he knew Roberts before this happened. “It’s really one of those things. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
O'Hare said locals criticized her for covering the incident. They didn't like hearing about an incident that cast a shadow over their case and resulted in a global backlash in their community.
One of the comments she received read: “Go and practice some real journalism. Carly O'Hare, you're an asshole on a witch hunt for your man's family.”
Others called on O'Hare to stop reporting, and one accused her of not being objective or embellishing.
“I’m just doing my job. It's nothing personal. And I have great empathy for everyone involved in this,” she said.
motorcycle brigade
Over Memorial Day weekend, local frustration moved beyond the keyboard and into meeting Daniel in person.
For weeks, wolf advocates across the country, including Texas' motorcycle brigade, have been planning to pass Daniel to raise awareness and funds to reform Wyoming's wolf laws.
![Police escort a motorcycle protest brigade through Daniel, Wyoming, May 26, 2024.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3176x2382+392+0/resize/1100/quality/100/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F13%2F89%2Faa70a7d54d6e8e29f06be88a2269%2Fbrigade-14.jpg)
Police escort motorcycle protesters through Daniel, Wyoming, May 26, 2024.
Caitlin Tan/Wyoming Public Media
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Caitlin Tan/Wyoming Public Media
Many locals came out on the day of the event, but only a few out-of-state advocates came out. The one-lane highway through the city was packed with trucks, livestock trailers, semi-trucks and hundreds of people, mostly locals. The day was peaceful but tense.
“We have a great community. “The people are the best.” said local investigator Ronnie Johnson, wearing a tan cowboy hat and purple silk scarf. “That’s why we’re here. “There is no other reason.”
That was the main sentiment. Locals are tired of outsiders giving them a bad name. Many residents say they think Roberts is a good person, but he just made a mistake.
Pat Johnson said, “Boys, booze and wolves certainly don't mix well. The problem is what they bring to this d*mn bar.”
But there were a few Wyoming residents who felt differently.
“I’m not very happy with what Cody Roberts did,” said Gary Garlick, who lives in the nearby town of Big Piney. “There are a lot of ranchers who are mad at him. “They are concerned about predator control, but what he did was a little off the mark.”
He said he hoped national protests would not break out in this small town.
Livestock grazing is important to Wyoming's economy and culture.
Caitlin Tan/Wyoming Public Media
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Caitlin Tan/Wyoming Public Media
Two women from California were standing in front of the Green River Bar, sneaking past the bar's infamous street scene brought by wolves and a massive livestock semi-trailer blocking the parking lot. They posed with red duct tape over their mouths, similar to the tape that bound the wolf's mouth in one of the leaked images.
“We drove 13 hours to get here,” Holly Smalley said. Meanwhile, several local trucks honked their horns from behind. “Wolves are magical. We don't deserve that. We are no better than them. You live, you coexist, and you care about wildlife.”
Smallie didn't mince words. She thought what Roberts did was torture and warranted further punishment.
The motorcycle brigade itself was short-lived. It took about a minute for six motorcyclists and several cars with signs saying “Stop Cruelty to Wildlife” to get escorted through the city by police.
The local crowd mostly booed and gave explicit thumbs down. Some people shouted, “Is that all?” Another said, “They canceled church because of something like this?”
But wolf advocates say they have raised $130,000 in hopes of reforming Wyoming law so that things like what Roberts did could result in much higher penalties in the future.
inspection
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department said the $250 fine punished Roberts to the fullest extent permitted by law, but the Sublette County Sheriff's Department is not so sure. They began investigating Roberts in April to see if other laws might apply to the case. That investigation is still ongoing.
But this is not the only investigation. Apparently the incident has resulted in an unprecedented number of death threats, said Travis Bingham, the department's communications director.
“The Sublette County Library has nothing to do with it, but they are getting it. [threats]“But his family, citizens, town business owners, the list goes on,” Bingham said.
He added that many of the death threat investigations have not yet been concluded.
Additionally, sheriff's departments serving counties with populations of less than 10,000 have received thousands of frustrated emails, social media comments and phone calls, Bingham said.
“We've sent the majority from the East to Texas, California, Washington D.C., New York and Florida. We've received a few emails from overseas, like Europe and Australia,” he said.
After the calls disrupted 911 service, the department set up a separate tip line. Outsiders, such as some in the motorcycle brigade, want Roberts arrested, and many say Wyoming's wolf laws should be changed.
“Very good compromise”
“Things like this ruin everyone,” said CJ Box, a popular Wyoming author who has written dozens of books following the fictional game warden. He studied Wyoming's wildlife culture and laws extensively, including those regarding wolves.
Box said people may not like Roberts and the state of Wyoming being attacked by outsiders, but that doesn't mean he defends what he did to the wolves.
“That’s not hunting.” Box said. “Every hunter I know will try to kill an animal as quickly and humanely as possible if it has been injured. Don't take it, don't show it off, and don't take a picture of it. “That’s not the behavior of a hunter.”
He added that he believes Wyoming's wolf law is a “very good compromise” that protects predators in most of the state's northwest corner near Yellowstone National Park and allows hunting in most of the rest of the state.
But the incident has state lawmakers seeking change. They recently formed a committee with stakeholders to specifically look at the treatment of predators. Official changes to state law are expected as early as next year's Wyoming legislative session.
Meanwhile, wildlife advocacy groups have filed lawsuits seeking to list gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountain region in several states as endangered or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Currently, this species is protected under this law everywhere but in those territories. If the plaintiffs win, Wyoming would lose its authority to allow wolf hunting regulated and enforced by the federal government.