Another Sawtooth Wolf Shot Pack Killing Cattle In Area; Six Pups Moved To Pen In Park

Another cattle-killing wolf from the Sawtooth pack has been shot and federal biologists have moved six more pups to a pen in Yellowstone National Park.

Sunday’s incident came just over a week after another wolf was shot and four pups were moved to Yellowstone because the pack was killing cattle in the area.

The Sawtooth Pack now consists of two adults and four pups. One adult and one pup are fixed with radio collars.

The animals are part of the attempt to restore wolves to the Northern Rockies.

Dozens of Canadian wolves were released in Yellowstone and central Idaho in 1995 and 1996 to get the restoration project under way.

But if more depredations occur in the Augusta area, additional actions, including relocation or killing more wolves, may be necessary, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.

The six pups moved Sunday will join their four littermates and two yearling wolves from the Nez Perce pack in a holding pen in the park. They are expected to be released next spring.

“As shown by some of our earlier successes in manipulating wolf packs, interactions among the four pups placed in the pen with the two Nez Perce yearling wolves has been great,” said Ralph Morgenweck, Regional Director for the Fish and Wildlife Service.

“It’s difficult to know how Mother Nature will react to some of our ideas, but in this case, it seems to be working.”