Two wolves shot by agents in first killings since transfer

Sat., Jan. 28, 2006

John Miller Associated Press

BOISE – Federal agents in an airplane shot two wolves from a pack believed to have been preying on livestock in central Idaho, the first kills since state officials took over management of the predators earlier this month.

The adult male and female killed on Jan. 19 were from the Buffalo Ridge Pack.

On Jan. 15, members of the pack killed at least one calf in the pasture of a rancher in the Challis area near the Salmon River, U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services agents in Idaho told the Associated Press.

Wolf tracks were found around the carcass, the federal predator-control agency said.

Although the state Department of Fish and Game assumed day-to-day management of Idaho’s 600 wolves from the U.S. Department of Interior as of Jan. 5, the federal government still assists the state with wolf predator control.

Idaho wolves are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, but can be shot legally if they are preying on livestock.

Todd Grimm, a Wildlife Services district supervisor, said Friday his agency worked with state Fish and Game wolf coordinator Steve Nadeau, who gave agents permission to kill two wolves.

“As soon as we found out about the depredation, we called Steve Nadeau, to tell him we were investigating,” Grimm said. “We did have traps and snares set. The wolves happened to be where the depredation had taken place” when an agent shot them from the plane.

Nadeau said he gave permission to kill the wolves after Wildlife Services determined that non-lethal measures wouldn’t work.

Meanwhile, Fish and Game officials have released a study they say justifies killing dozens of wolves over the next five years in northern Idaho’s Clearwater Basin, about 200 miles from the Buffalo Ridge Pack, to increase the number of elk in the area.

Biologists want to reduce the wolf population in the area from as many as 69 wolves to as few as 15 and keep it at that level. After five years, the effect on the elk population would be evaluated.

Public meetings are planned in Boise on Thursday and in Lewiston on Feb. 7.

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