Officials Looking For Female Gray Wolf

Sun., Feb. 21, 1999

From Staff

A female gray wolf that swam the Snake River into eastern Oregon has some state and federal agencies calling for its recapture.

The wolf, which is on the run along the upper middle fork of the John Day River, is more than 100 miles from the Oregon-Idaho border.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Department of Agriculture were drafting a letter Friday asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take it back to central Idaho.

The wolf, one of several missing for four months, reportedly crossed into Oregon on Feb. 11.

And she might not be alone.

The wolf has made her first Oregon kill - an elk - and multiple tracks were seen at the site, said Craig Ely, acting regional supervisor of the state wildlife department’s La Grande office.

Ely said his staff will begin an extensive search for the wolf Monday. So far, no one has seen the animal.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants the wolf back in Idaho and is using radio telemetry to monitor its movements, spokeswoman Joan Jewett said.

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