Rancher To Be Paid If Wolf Killed Calf Female One Of 15 Canadian Animals Released In Central Idaho Wilderness

The Defenders of Wildlife conservation group said it will pay for livestock losses a Salmon-area rancher suffered if it is verified that a wolf killed the calf.

The wolf was shot, but that is no reason to question the project to return the predators to central Idaho, biologists on both sides of the Canadian border said Monday.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents Monday traveled to Gene Hussey’s Iron Creek ranch, about 25 miles south of Salmon. Hussey on Sunday morning reported a dead female wolf wearing Fish and Wildlife radio collar No. 13.

The wolf transported from Canada had apparently fed on a newborn calf found nearby with its stomach ripped open.

“If qualified state or federal officials verify a livestock loss from a wolf, Defenders of Wildlife will compensate the producer at full market value from our wolf compensation fund,” said Bob Ferris, species conservation director.”Until we know what the facts are, it’s pointless to speculate on what did or didn’t happen,” added Hank Fischer, the group’s regional representative.

The wolf was one of 15 Canadian animals released earlier this month as part of a five-year plan to restore the predator to the region. Fourteen others were placed in pens in Yellowstone Park.

The carcass was about 60 miles east of where the animal was turned loose in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness.

Ted Koch of Fish and Wildlife’s Boise office, said one of the recently released wolves was monitored alive Saturday night in an aerial survey of the area where the female was found dead.

Later examination by local veterinarian Robert Cope showed blood between the wolf’s teeth, tooth marks on the calf’s liver, and black hair the color of the calf in the wolf’s stomach.

Reports were the dead wolf had the same tan coloration of a coyote, which is much smaller.

Hussey said he does not know who shot it or when it occurred.

Fearing fallout from the “feds,” Hussey said he first called Idaho Cattle Association board members to find out how he should handle the incident. It advised him he had 24 hours to notify the authorities and he should use that time to secure his own documentation before turning the animal over to them.

The regulations developed for the wolf reintroduction program allow livestock owners to kill a wolf on private land in the recovery area.

However, they must witness the wolf in the act of wounding or killing livestock, must report it within one day and they must have evidence of livestock wounded or killed by wolves.

Two wolves turned loose in Idaho have since migrated into Montana.

The dead wolf can be chalked up to attrition, said Steve Fritts of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“We assumed there would be a certain rate of mortality,” he said. “That’s why we designed the project to go over a three- to five-year period - because of the attrition rate.”