ODFW Revisits Possible/Unknown Again
Canadian Grey Wolf Report filed: May 15, 2014 for May 16th airing
Hello, Kerry Tienhaara of Oregon Wolf Education with the Canadian Grey wolf report for the second week of May.
We’ll begin today’s report with the almost weekly reading of another ODFW Livestock Depredation Investigation Report….again occurring on private property; again involving livestock owned by the Morgans of Imnaha.
A cow with a broken leg was found near the bottom of a slope. She was dead. The mostly consumed body of a calf was also found. In fact, the ODFW investigator claimed there were not enough remains of the calf left to determine cause of death. His investigation conclusion this week was Possible/Unknown.
If we were to apply a little more investigative evidence to the scenario, a different conclusion could arguably be reached.
Cows do not die from a broken leg. They do die from being chased to death.
There was visible evidence of tracks on the hillside showing the cows and calves had been running as if being chased.
The Camp Creek Drainage in Imnaha is steep ground. When a cow is being chased by a predator it is not difficult to understand how that cow could suffer a broken leg during a headlong flight in an attempt to save her life and the life of her baby calf.
Heavy rains the night before the investigation made it difficult to find predator tracks, but a lone Canadian Grey wolf was seen on the hillside above where the two bodies lay. Possibly returning to the scene of the crime?
A mostly consumed calf carcass doesn’t allow for making a determination as to cause of death? How about the fact the calf was mostly consumed except for a leg?
A chase had occurred. Predators don’t chase dead animals. Canadian Grey wolves are known to chase their victims, catch their victims and usually eat their victims. This results in the victim’s death.
You may be asking yourselves, “Why does this matter? It’s just a dead cow and dead calf.” There are even those overly simplistic people who say, “Oh well, what’s the big deal? The cow and calf were going to be killed by people someday anyway.”
It matters because once again livestock was killed on private property by a predator. The owner was deprived of the value of his personal property because an ODFW employee may very well be under pressure not to call any livestock taking investigation a confirmed CG wolf taking. We can assume this when an actual visual sighting of a CG wolf in close vicinity, signs of a chase, previous losses, years’ of experience running cattle on the same private property without these types of losses, does not seem to carry any weight with the investigator.
It matters because these animals suffered an inhumane death needlessly. Their lives and bodies were wasted.
It matters because the majority of CG wolf depredation investigations are on private property.
It matters because ODFW is in the business of protecting a non-native species of predator that chooses to prey on livestock. This conflict of interest cannot be ignored.
Wallowa County does not have coyotes on steroids. Wallowa County does have Canadian Grey wolves. These predators spend a great portion of their time on private property. They can and do kill livestock as well as fully grown elk, deer, elk calves and fawns.
This is fact, whether an investigation concludes it correctly or not.
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