Agency kills six wolves for stock attacks

BOISE – Six gray wolves were killed near Hailey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service because they were preying on livestock, officials said Thursday.

The wolves, members of the Copper Basin pack, were destroyed Wednesday, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Carter Niemeyer said.

“We are hopeful that this control action will deter any future livestock depredations in this area,” Niemeyer said in a statement. “If the depredations continue, the rest of the pack will be removed.”

The wolves killed two calves this week as the animals grazed in the Challis National Forest, officials said. The pack was already implicated in the killings of four cattle and the injuries of two calves, according to the Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery 2004 Annual Report.

Besides the confirmed depredations, ranchers in the region have reported a large number of missing cattle over the past year, officials said.

Another wolf in the Copper Basin pack was killed earlier this year by a rancher who saw the animal harassing his livestock. Besides workers with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, workers with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game witnessed the wolves’ deaths. The U.S. has authorized the killing of two other wolves this year.

In 1995 and 1996, the Fish and Wildlife Service released gray wolves into central Idaho and Yellowstone National Park as part of a program to re-establish wolf populations in the Northwest. The wolves are now exceeding recovery goals in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

Since the first 35 were released in central Idaho, the population has grown to an estimated 500 wolves within state lines, state fish and game officials estimate.