Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Roping Won’t Bring Charges

From Staff And Wire Reports

A Wyoming rancher who captured an animal that appeared to be a wolf by roping it from his snowmobile will not be charged with any violations of federal rules, said Wyoming’s U.S. attorney.

David Freudenthal, in a news release, said Bill Mayo will not be charged with any violating the Endangered Species Act for capturing the animal believed to have killed eight of Mayo’s sheep.

Mayo in February captured the animal by chasing it with is snowmobile, roping it and putting it into a horse trailer.

The animal was sent to Yellowstone National Park, where authorities tested it to determine if it was a full-blooded wolf.

Mayo could have faced federal charges for a violation of the Endangered Species Act if prosecutors had determined he did not follow federal rules for getting rid of wolves that prey on livestock.

But Freudenthal said an investigation showed Mayo tried to disturb the wolf as little as possible by using nonlethal means to capture it.