The film stars Cody Roberts bringing a live wolf into a bar in Daniel, Wyoming, in February 2024.
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Wyoming is home to hundreds of wolves, most of which live in or near Yellowstone National Park. They are protected and a great attraction for tourists.
But elsewhere in the state, wolves are still often reviled as predators and a threat to the livestock industry. As a result, killing wolves is legal year-round in most of Wyoming, without a permit.
But the latest man to do so is under investigation as the animal’s death sparked outrage around the world.
In late February, video taken inside a bar in Daniel, Wyoming, population 108, showed a muzzled, leashed wolf lying on the wooden floor, appearing to be injured. Bar patrons chatted in the background. Another video shows it briefly trying to growl before succumbing to a man grabbing its snout and leaning in to kiss it.
Daniel, Wyoming is part of a tight-knit ranching community in western Wyoming
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That man was Cody Roberts, who came from a long-time local ranching family. Local media reported that Roberts hit the wolf with his snowmobile, which is legal in Wyoming if the wolf died.
But the wolf didn’t just die, and a source who asked not to be identified for personal safety reasons said Roberts shot the animal later that night. But what happened at the bar before he shot the wolf became big news.
That night, someone at the bar reported Roberts to a local game warden. They ticketed him for illegal possession of a live wolf, and he paid a $250 fine.
global threats
A month after the incident, Jackson Hole Community Radio reported the incident. In April this year, the video of the bar incident was exposed on the Internet and spread internationally.
Cody Roberts didn’t speak to reporters, but people around the world were talking about what happened at Daniel’s Bar.
“I’ve received death threats from Ireland, Russia, Japan, Australia,” said another man named Cody Roberts, who has nothing to do with the incident and is not related to the other Roberts. About 100 miles away on the road in Thane, Wyoming.
“I don’t know how many messages I got,” he said angrily.
Some people mistakenly believe that his Facebook page is other Roberts.
“It’s like this guy just said, ‘You’re a psychopathic wolf torturer, kill yourself,'” he read.
People have also threatened his family – sharing his parents’ phone numbers online and even threatening to “crush his grandchildren.”
Roberts said he had responded to every message and explained that he was no the same person.
“One woman even walked up and said, ‘I don’t care if you’re the right guy, do me a favor and shoot him in the head and it will all go away,'” Roberts read.
He said he was also disappointed with the situation of others Cody Roberts did, but he actually thought the threats were more serious.
“Does he deserve everything he gets? No, I don’t think he does,” he said. “You know, he’s still a human being.”
“Boycott Wyoming” has become a trending hashtag. Another image circulating shows the Wyoming flag with the words “Wyoming Animal Cruelty and Torture State” superimposed on it. The Wyoming Tourism Department’s Facebook page was flooded with similar comments. The page, which usually posts almost daily, was silent for almost the entire month of April.
Local businesses also faced backlash, with some being given one-star reviews simply for being in the same area as the incident.
local outrage
Cali O’Hare, the only newsroom employee at local newspaper the Pinedale Roundup, had to write about the incident.
Pinedale Comprehensive reporter says she faced local backlash for writing about wolf incident
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“I got all kinds of letters. One letter I got was this: ‘The whole world is watching you.’ “You know – so no pressure,” O’Hare said, only half joking. “It’s not just about a person’s reputation, his family and their livelihood, but also the reputation of the community – and how the rest of the world sees it.”
This level of attention is unheard of in this tight-knit community known for its cowboys and sprawling sagebrush. Not to mention – everyone knows everyone.
“I joke, it’s the third degree of separation,” O’Hare said, adding that she knew Roberts before all of this happened. “It’s really one of those things where you’re damned if you do it and you’re damned if you don’t.”
O’Hare said locals condemned her for covering the incident. They don’t like hearing about an incident that casts a shadow over themselves and the resulting global backlash against their community.
One comment she received read: “Practice real journalism, Carley O’Hare, you asshole is waging a witch hunt against a man’s family.”
Others asked O’Hare to stop reporting, with one accusing her of being unobjective or whitewashing.
“I was just doing my job. This is nothing personal. I have deepest sympathy for everyone involved,” she said.
motorcycle brigade
Over Memorial Day weekend, local frustrations weren’t limited to the keyboards, but also to Daniel.
For weeks, wolf advocates from across the country, including a Texas motorcycle group, have planned to drive through Daniel to raise awareness and funds to reform Wyoming’s wolf laws.
On May 26, 2024, police escorted a motorcycle protest group through Daniel, Wyoming.
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On the day of the event, a large group of locals came out, but only a few out-of-state advocates. The one-lane highway through town was packed with trucks, livestock trailers, semi-trailers and hundreds of people, mostly locals. The days passed peacefully, but also very tense.
“We have a great community. The people are the best,” said local farrier Lonny Johnson, wearing a tan cowboy hat and purple silk scarf. “That’s why we’re here. There’s no other reason than that.
That’s the dominant sentiment: locals are tired of outsiders giving them a bad name. Many residents said they believed Roberts was a good man who just made a mistake.
“Boys, booze and wolves clearly don’t mix well,” Pat Johnson said, “Bringing it to this damn bar was the wrong thing to do.”
However, some Wyomingans see it differently.
“I’m not happy with what Cody Roberts did,” said Gary Garrick from the nearby town of Big Piney. “There are a lot of ranch owners who are unhappy with him as well. They’re concerned about predator control, but what he did was a little out of line.
He said he wished it hadn’t come to this – nationwide protests in this Maverick town.
Cattle ranching is important to Wyoming’s economy and culture
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Two women from California stood in front of the Green River Bar, sneaking past huge livestock semi-trailers that blocked the parking lot and the street view of the notorious bar where wolves were brought. Their mouths were covered with red tape – just like the tape that bound the wolf’s mouth in one of the leaked photos.
“We drove 13 hours to get here,” Holly Smallie said, as several local trucks honked in the background. “Wolves are amazing. We don’t deserve them. We are no better than them. You live, you coexist, and you care about wildlife.
Smalley doesn’t mince words – she believes what Roberts did was torture and warranted further punishment.
The motorcycle brigade itself was short-lived. About a minute later, six motorcyclists and several cars were escorted through town by police, one of which had a sign reading “Stop Cruelty to Wildlife.”
Most of the local people booed and openly expressed their opposition. One exclaimed, “That’s it?” Another said, “I canceled church because of this?”
But wolf advocates said they raised $130,000 in hopes of reforming Wyoming’s laws so that in the future, what Roberts did would amount to higher penalties.
investigation
While the Wyoming Game and Fish Department said they issued a $250 ticket to Roberts to the full extent of the law, the Saplette County Sheriff’s Department was less sure. They launched an investigation into Roberts in April to see if other laws apply to the case. The investigation remains ongoing.
But that’s not the only investigation. Travis Bingham, the department’s public information officer, said it was clear the case had resulted in an unprecedented number of death threats.
“Like the Sublette County Library has nothing to do with this, but they’re getting them [threats],” Bingham said. “But the list goes on — his family, citizens and town business owners.”
He added that many death threat investigations have not yet been concluded.
In addition, Bingham said the sheriff’s department, which serves counties with populations of less than 10,000 people, has received thousands of frustrating emails, social media comments and phone calls.
“We get emails from the East, Texas, California, Washington, D.C., New York, Florida,” he said. “We do get a few emails from abroad, like Europe and Australia.”
The calls clogged their 911 service, so the department set up a separate tip line. Outsiders, such as some on the motorcycle team, wanted Roberts arrested, and many said Wyoming’s wolf laws should be changed.
“A pretty good compromise”
“Events like this make everyone anxious,” said CJ Box, a well-known Wyoming author who has written dozens of books about a fictional game warden. He has extensively researched Wyoming’s wildlife culture and laws, including those regarding wolves.
Box said people may not like that Roberts and Wyoming are being attacked by outsiders, but that doesn’t mean they’re defending what he allegedly did to wolves.
“That’s not hunting,” Box said. “Every hunter I know, if they harm something, will try to eliminate that animal as quickly and humanely as possible. No taking back, no showing off, no taking pictures. That’s not what hunters do.
He added that he thinks Wyoming’s wolf laws are a “pretty good compromise” – protecting the predators in much of the state’s northwest corner near Yellowstone National Park and allowing them to be hunted in much of the rest of the state.
But the incident prompted state lawmakers to consider changes. They recently formed a committee with stakeholders to look specifically at predator treatment issues. Any formal changes to state law would come as early as next year during the Wyoming legislative session.
Meanwhile, wildlife advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit to have gray wolves in the multistate region north of the Rockies listed as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Currently, the species is protected under the Act everywhere except in this area. If the plaintiffs win, Wyoming will lose the authority to allow wolf hunting, with regulations set and enforced by the federal government.
