Wolves didn’t kill cow, state says
By Michelle McNiel
World staff writer
Originally published March 28, 2013 at 8:21 a.m., updated March 28, 2013 at 10:17 a.m.
WENATCHEE — State wildlife experts have concluded that a pregnant cow found dead south of Wenatchee on Tuesday was not killed by a wolf.
However they are still worried about the two gray wolves that appear to be establishing territory on or near a cattle ranch in Pitcher Canyon.
“We’re just kind of on pins and needles hoping that this livestock operator doesn’t have any more issues with dead cows,” said Matt Monda, regional wildlife program manager for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Once wolves learn that livestock is a meal, then we will have to go in and take action.”
In extreme cases, the action may require killing wolves, which are protected under federal and state endangered species laws.
“But that’s a very volatile path to take,” he added.
Pictures of the wolves have been captured on remote camera feeding on elk carcasses on the ranch for the last week and a half, though wildlife experts also concluded that the wolves had not killed at least one of those elks.
Monda said if the wolves had just come across a dead elk, they could feed on it for a week or more. So the agency doesn’t know if the wolves are just lingering in the canyon right now because they’ve found dead animals to eat or whether they’ve established a territory that now includes the ranch.
“As long as they have something to eat, there’s no reason for them to go somewhere else,” he said.
State biologists and enforcement officers dissected the dead cow in Pitcher Canyon on Tuesday with the ranchers present. Monda said they did not find any puncture holes, crushing bruises or internal bleeding that are characteristic of wolves or other predators having killed an animal.
“Something did eat the cow, but all evidence indicated that it was fed upon after it died,” he said. “But there was no sign of a scuffle, no torn-up ground, no blood. There was absolutely no sign that it was killed by a predator of any kind.”
Ross Hurd, the rancher who owns the cattle with his two brothers, said he disagrees with the agency's conclusions. He said the agency's iunvestigators talked about the path of the struggle over some 30 yards, and the disturbed ground, and the bloody wound on the back of the cow's neck. He also said he understands that the agency needs specific evidence to confirm it was a wolf kill, but he doesn't understand how the agency can conclude a wolf did not kill his cow.
For now, he's more concerned about wolves still lingering on his ranch. This morning, a wolf came right through their calving area, traveling up through their lowest field from below. They were able to chase it away, he said.
The agency hopes to trap one or both of the wolves this spring. Once the animals are outfitted with tracking collars, the agency can get a better idea of their territory and movement patterns.
Monda said the two closest wolf packs to Wenatchee — the Teanaway pack near Cle Elum and the Lookout pack in the Methow Valley — have very different territory patterns. The Teanaway pack tends to stay at lower elevations year round as it follows the deer and elk populations. The Lookout pack in the Methow Valley moves from lower, more populated elevations in the winter to higher, more backcountry locations in the summer, with the migration of the deer..
“So we don’t know if these (Wenatchee) wolves will move further and further away from Wenatchee as the summer progresses,” Monda said.
Pitcher Canyon is on the fringe of the Colockum elk habitat, “in an area where we would expect a wolf pack to do well,” he said.
Monda said the agency has no prediction on how large a pack could grow near Wenatchee. He said the Lookout pack to the north is “tenuous at best” with just two known wolves right now.
“They are just barely hanging on up there,” he said, adding that while the territory in North Central Washington is prime for wolves, “They aren’t taking off (in numbers) here like they have in other areas.”
The state agency had expected wolves to have established themselves more by now in the area between Wenatchee and the Methow Valley, he said.
If the two wolves spotted near Wenatchee are establishing a pack here, then Wenatchee would be the largest city in the state to have a wolf pack so close. However, many smaller communities do have wolves routinely nearby, including Winthrop and Twisp.
If the wolves hang around, Monda said the agency will make a “concerted effort” to educate people in the area about them.
The most likely interactions between people and wolves are either ranches or people who are hiking or working in wolf territory.
But Monda said it’s no different than the expectation that you might encounter a black bear, coyote, cougar or bobcat in the same areas.
“Is there any added risks with the wolves? I would say probably not,” he said.
http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2013/mar/28/wolves-didnt-kill-cow-state-says/"State biologists and enforcement officers dissected the dead cow in Pitcher Canyon on Tuesday with the ranchers present. Monda said they did not find any puncture holes, crushing bruises or internal bleeding that are characteristic of wolves or other predators having killed an animal."
“Something did eat the cow, but all evidence indicated that it was fed upon after it died,” he said. “But there was no sign of a scuffle, no torn-up ground, no blood. There was absolutely no sign that it was killed by a predator of any kind.”
Top wolf managers in Olympia have made their minds up, not wanting to go with "it was probably a cougar" again, Conservation NW and WDFW have concluded "anything but their wolves killed the cow"
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“By the time we got to the carcass it was too old for me to say yay or nay if it was killed by a wolf,” said Scott Fitkin, wildlife biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “It was clearly fed on by something, but not much was left but a lot of maggots.” Fitkin and a USDA Wildlife Services agent inspected the carcass on Friday (May 22).
http://www.conservationnw.org/pressroom/press-clips/proof-of-wolf-kill-may-elude-investigatorsWhen experts examined the decomposing cow May 22, it had been so worked over by scavengers that there was little left but hide and hip bones.
Even so, "there was nothing about the carcass to indicate that wolves had anything to do with it," said Doug Zimmer, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009307261_wolves06m.html--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ross Hurd, the rancher who owns the cattle with his two brothers, said he disagrees with the agency's conclusions. He said the agency's iunvestigators talked about the path of the struggle over some 30 yards, and the disturbed ground, and the bloody wound on the back of the cow's neck. He also said he understands that the agency needs specific evidence to confirm it was a wolf kill, but he doesn't understand how the agency can conclude a wolf did not kill his cow.
