More livestock killed by wolves in NE Washington

[bearpaw]

Word on the street is that there will be more livestock attacks in the news tomorrow. Cattle this time, more than one....

[PlateauNDN]

   Ok line them up.

[buckfvr]

  Ok line them up.

Politicians or wolves???

[PlateauNDN]

  Ok line them up.

Politicians or wolves???

Is there a difference?

[bearpaw]

I think we may have trailcam pictures of a potential culprit wolf which were taken not far from where I heard the cattle attacks occurred. This photo was posted here on the forum earlier this year. I have heard WDFW has been trying to trap these wolves again this summer, they were unsuccessful last year at trapping them in this area. It's hard to say for sure which wolves attacked the cattle because many locals are nearly certain there are at least two packs plus individual wolves in the area. GMU 105

[Mudman]

No surprise.  We all remember how ranchers got rid of em originally.  Makes me wonder if it might happen again someday? People will get fed up if they dont do something.

[bearpaw]

If what I heard is correct, it's the same rancher that was missing about 2 dozen head of cattle at roundup last fall. Wolves are costing this family a lot of money. Hope the wolf groups pick up the tab for the loss as they promised.

[sebek556]

I hope they do, doubt they will though.. 

[Gringo31]

They found a fondness for Hereford Beef?

[bearpaw]

In the wolf world this is the way it is: Once a beefeater, always a beefeater. 

I look for this pack to follow the same routine as many other packs in several other western states... 

[Gringo31]

Well......

From what I've self educated myself on by reading on the internet....it was probably Len's fault for not corraling up his cows at night, putting a watch person out there to make noise to keep the wolves away.  He MUST have had sick, old or pregnant cows which is his fault for just asking the wolves to clean up his dying herd.  Actually, I'm guessing he will have a stronger herd now that the wolves killed off the weak ones that were only going to cost him money to try and keep alive anyway, I suppose he should be thankful.......that is......only assuming that a wolf would actually kill an animal.  Everyone knows that they really only eat the dead carcasses of poor old cows that died naturally from bloat.

What would someone be thinking trying to raise livestock in an area that was once "wolf country" anyway?  Stupid farmers just don't see the value in a wildly diverse ecosystem.

[bearpaw]

 

[huntrights]

I just received this news release from WDFW.

"WDFW NEWS RELEASE
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091
http://wdfw.wa.gov/

July 13, 2012
Contacts:  Steve Pozzanghera, WDFW, 509-892-7852
Kendle Allen, Stevens County Sheriff, 509-684-5296

Wolf, cougar attacks on rancher's livestock prompt
response by WDFW, sheriff's office in Stevens County

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and the Stevens County Sheriff's office jointly responded this week to wolf and cougar attacks on a rancher's livestock in northern Stevens County.
 
The owner of the Diamond M Ranch contacted the Stevens County Sheriff's office July 11 after discovering an injured calf and cow on his ranch in Laurier, just east of the Kettle River near the Canadian border. The following day, he found two more calves that had been dead for several days.
 
After receiving the rancher's initial report, Stevens County Sheriff Kendle Allen and Chief Deputy Colin Webb contacted WDFW enforcement officers, who joined them on the ranch to investigate the cause of the livestock injuries. WDFW officers and wildlife biologists, in collaboration with the Stevens County Sheriff, confirmed that injuries to the first two animals were caused by a wolf.

After the second report, investigators returned to the ranch and confirmed - based on distinctive marks left on the carcasses - that one calf was killed by a cougar and the other was killed by a wolf. Another calf remains missing from the rancher's herd.

WDFW Director Phil Anderson has issued a permit to the rancher authorizing him to shoot a wolf if it is caught attacking his livestock again. The department is also working to determine the amount of compensation the rancher is eligible to recover for his losses.

"The permit is critical for the rancher to protect his livestock from further attack," said Steve Pozzanghera, director of WDFW's eastern region office in Spokane. "We've also offered to help him protect his animals using other measures."

Pozzanghera explained that WDFW staff are monitoring the area and are prepared to use rubber bullets, floodlights and other strategies to keep wolves away from the rancher's livestock. A department biologist is also setting up traps to capture and radio-collar a wolf. Radio collars can be used not only to track an animal's movements, but also trigger alarms near livestock. 

The Diamond M Ranch was also the scene a wolf-livestock depredation in 2007 - the first documented in Washington state in recent times . A wolf pack has long been suspected to range through the area known as The Wedge, a triangular section of northern Stevens County between the Kettle and Columbia rivers.

WDFW staff have had ongoing discussions with ranchers about livestock lost in the wedge, and have set up remote cameras in the area to detect wolf activity and confirm the pack's existence.

"With the attacks at the Diamond M Ranch this week, the wedge area is now WDFW's top wolf-trapping priority," Pozzanghera said. He also expressed appreciation for the Stevens County Sheriff's office cooperation in this week's investigation.

"Staff from the sheriff's office attended the wolf-depredation training course we held for our staff last spring," he said. "I think this kind of joint effort is needed to successfully address problems with wolves and other wild predators."

Pozzanghera urges ranchers who believe they have lost livestock to predation by any kind of wild animal to contact WDFW immediately at 1-877-933-9847.

"The sooner we can investigate the situation, the better our chances are of determining why the animal died, if a wolf was the predator and if compensation is warranted," he said. "We also ask that landowners protect the site from disturbances and keep scavengers away by covering the carcass with a tarp."

The wolf attack on the Diamond M Ranch livestock is the third incident investigated in Washington since the state adopted a Wolf Conservation and Management Plan in December 2011. The other two wolf attacks - in Okanogan and southern Stevens County - resulted in the loss of a calf and a sheep.

The plan (available at http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/ ) addresses both recovery of the gray wolf, which is a state endangered species, and conflicts with livestock producers. 

________________________________________
This message has been sent to the WDFW All Information mailing list.
Visit the WDFW News Release Archive at:  http://wdfw.wa.gov/news/ "

[PlateauNDN]

   Just a tip of the iceberg of what's to come.

[stickbuck]

  Just a tip of the iceberg of what's to come.

x2 . I won't be surprised if we see a ton of these over the next 6 months.  I was very surprised and happy to see the state issue the rancher a permit to kill a wolf if he saw one killing some livestock.