Feds investigating wolf’s death

Sun., Jan. 16, 2011

Associated Press

CASPER, Wyo. – Federal wildlife officers are investigating the death of a wolf in central Wyoming, but they say they don’t know the cause of death.

The wolf was found about 45 miles southwest of Casper, the Casper Star-Tribune reported Saturday.

Wolves are a protected species. Killing them is illegal except in certain cases, such as when a wolf is observed attacking livestock.

Steve Oberholtzer of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Denver said the wolf was wearing a radio collar, but officials don’t know where its pack is located.

Oberholtzer said a ranch hand found the wolf’s carcass and notified the Fish and Wildlife Service.

A female wolf found dead in Colorado in April was killed by poison, the Fish and Wildlife Service announced Monday.

The poison was identified as Compound 1080, which is banned in the state. Officials said they didn’t know where the wolf came in contact with the poison and asked for the public’s help.

Compound 1080 can be used in collars on sheep and goats in some states, but not in Colorado.

The wolf poisoned in Colorado was from Montana and was wearing a GPS collar as part of a research project. Signals from her collar indicated she broke from her pack and wandered more than 1,000 miles through Wyoming, Idaho and Utah before ending up in Eagle County, Colo., in February 2009.

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