Wolves attack calves in Ferry County

Wildlife officials are mulling over their options after a series of wolf attacks on cattle in northeast Washington.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a news release Friday that wolves had killed at least one calf and injured three others in the Kettle Mountains of Ferry County.

While waiting for WDFW to investigate, the affected livestock producer shot and killed one adult male wolf that was seen chasing other cows .

Now the agency says it’s “considering a period of evaluation instead of lethal removal” in response.

This marks the first time this year that WDFW has considered killing wolves that have preyed on cattle, according to the agency’s monthly wolf reports.

The agency can order lethal removal of a wolf after more than three attacks on livestock in a span of 30 days. In this case, since one wolf has been killed already, the agency is considering ordering an evaluation period instead.

The release said staff will make a recommendation to the WDFW director soon.

The producer reported the wolf attacks on Thursday. WDFW said the incident hasn’t been attributed to a single pack yet, and the agency is still working to determine whether the wolves involved are part of a local pack or are dispersing from somewhere else.

WDFW’s annual wolf count found there were at least 230 wolves across 43 packs in the state at the end of 2024.