Montanan Pleads Innocent To Charges Of Killing Wolf Affidavits Show Hunting Buddy Turned Mckittrick In

A 42-year-old unemployed carpenter from Red Lodge pleaded innocent Thursday to three federal misdemeanor charges in the killing of a gray wolf that was released in Yellowstone National Park earlier this year.

Chad Kirth McKittrick entered the pleas in U.S. District Court in Billings.

He was released on his own recognizance, with a pretrial conference scheduled for June 2.

McKittrick originally had been charged with two misdemeanor charges of killing an animal protected by the Endangered Species Act.

Those charges were dropped Thursday, and three new charges were filed. The new charges accuse him of killing, possessing and transporting a protected animal that was part of an experimental population.

Affidavits filed earlier in support of the charges said a hunting buddy who was with McKittrick turned him in to federal agents.

McKittrick has admitted killing the animal, but says he thought it was a wild dog. His hunting buddy said, however, that McKittrick identified the animal as a wolf before firing his rifle.

If convicted on all three charges, McKittrick could face up to two years in prison and a $200,000 fine.

The dead wolf was the dominant male in one of the three packs of wolves released in Yellowstone in January.

Meanwhile, the wolf’s mate and her eight pups are doing well back in the one-acre acclimation pen she left on March 24, biologists say.

She was moved along with her pups, now 4 weeks old, after they were captured near Red Lodge.

She was caring for her pups in a depression under a tree, apparently while waiting for her dead mate to return. Biologists worried she would be unable to care for her pups on her own, and captured all nine last week, returning them to the Rose Creek pen in Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley.

Park spokeswoman Marsha Karle said biologists have been feeding the wolves about ever three or four days since then, and they appear to be doing well.

She said biologist dropped some moose meat in the pen on Sunday and noticed one of the pups standing outside of the den. From the pup’s appearance, it appears the mother has continued to nurse, relieving some concern she would reject the pups after they had been handled by humans.

The wolves will remain in the pen for another three to five weeks. They will be released once the pups are old enough to fend for themselves in the wild, she said.