Weekly Wolf News

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Latest Posted Idaho Wolf Hunt             Kill total (current season):169
Latest Posted Idaho Wolf Trapping             Kill total: 78              Latest Posted Montana Wolf Hunt Kill Total (current season): 137              Latest Posted Montana Wolf Trapping             Kill total: 77 Wyoming Wolf Kill Total             (2014):0
Regional Total Reported Killed Since             Delisting: 1683
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By George Plaven                  EO Media Group | 0 comments
A possible new wolf pack is roaming Eastern Oregon                 after wildlife biologists confirmed finding tracks from                 five animals near Medical Springs in Union County.
The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife first                 documented tracks in late December, based on reports                 from a landowner in the area. Tracks were found again                 three more times last month, stretching into northern                 Baker County.
While little is known about the exact location of the                 pack, a designated Area of Known Wolf Activity was                 mapped in the southern Catherine Creek and northern                 Keating wildlife management units. Size was estimated by                 looking at the range and behavior of other packs across                 the region.
Wolf packs are typically defined as consisting of a                 male, female and their offspring. For purposes of                 monitoring, a pack can also mean four or more wolves                 traveling together over winter, and this group of wolves                 meets that definition.
ODFW will attempt to collar one of the new wolves to                 learn more about their territory and breeding status,                 said spokeswoman Michelle Dennehy. It is still too early                 to know if there is a breeding pair or pups within the                 group of five.
“There is evidence that they have used this area over                 several weeks, so we know they’re not just dispersing,”                 Dennehy said. “We don’t know much more about them yet.”
The as yet unnamed pack would be Oregon’s eighth. The                 Imnaha, Umatilla River, Wenaha, Snake River, Walla                 Walla, Minam and Mount Emily packs also inhabit the                 state’s northeast corner. Total wolf figures in 2013 are                 not yet available, though 46 were counted at the end of                 2012.
Wolves remain listed under the state Endangered Species                 Act, and are federally protected west of highways 395,                 78 and 95. Management is done by ODFW to conserve                 populations, while mitigating damage from livestock                 depredation.
No incidents of depredation have been reported with the                 new group. ODFW will work with ranchers in the area to                 let them know about rules and different preventative                 measures for minimizing wolf-livestock conflicts.
Non-lethal measures are required before ODFW will use                 lethal control against wolves. In order to count as a                 “qualifying incident,” a pack must prey on livestock                 four times within a six-month period. These incidents                 must be investigated by ODFW and be confirmed                 depredations by the agency.
Confirmed depredations only qualify toward lethal                 control if livestock producers had preventative measures                 already in place.
Once a wolf kills livestock for the first time, an Area                 of Depredating Wolves is established. At that point,                 livestock producers must use preventative measures for a                 depredation to qualify.
It is up to producers to remove, treat or dispose of                 all known and reasonably accessible attractants on the                 property, such as bone piles. Finally, ranchers must                 have in place one additional deterrent — such as fladry                 fencing or range riders — to protect livestock.
No packs have met all the lethal control criteria. Most                 recently, there was confirmed depredation of a ewe Jan.                 30 by the Imnaha Pack on Upper Prairie Creek in Wallowa                 County. A report on whether this is a “qualifying                 incident” is still pending.
Before delisting wolves, wildlife managers need to                 observe four breeding pairs for three consecutive years,                 each with two pups that survive through the end of the                 year. Oregon met that requirement for the first time in                 2012, and 2013 could mark the second time depending on                 final year-end survey results.
Additional information about wolves is available on                 ODFW’s website at www.dfw.state.or.us/wolves.
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3 thoughts on “Weekly Wolf News”

  1. Can Idaho Not Be Bat Sh—Crazy, and MT-WY-WI?

    Elk farming in the wilderness, logging and killing the predators so there will be more elk to kill is an ID plan for sportsmen, loggers, and meadow formation! Maybe they could even build roads with pullouts and form meadows in gunshot range. Put out some lick blocks and have electronic calls at the pullouts. Maybe they could put some spotting scopes at the pullouts. Why do not ID-MT-WY-WI sportsmen or some large ranchers just form elk farms on private land, instead of distorting the meaning and purpose of the wilderness, more than they already have done so, so that “sportsmen” can just come, even by appointment, any time of year, and shoot “their elk”. They could even go beyond that and have deer, pronghorn, birds and others species to kill on the private game farms: Choke their own chicken or turkey; shoot their own pig or cow or sheep. Then maybe we could institute some rules about leaving the wilderness alone. Wildlife agencies and sportsmen alliance management is mostly based on mythology and folklore anyway, and it is harmful to the wilderness and the game animals and predators and balanced wildlife ecology. Elk numbers are up in the wolf massacre states of ID-MT-WY and all others in which elk live, even with wolves and bears and lions. There are around 140,000 in MT and WY and around 89,000 in ID. MT and ID have a 19+% chance of success in an individual taking an elk. WY has a whopping 38% success rate and ten years in a row of record harvests, despite the big bad wolf. Wolves and other predators are not making a dent in ungulate herds that is hunter folklore. There millenniums of balancing ecology between predator and prey. There are simply too few wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Area up the Bob Marshall to Glacier compared to prey. Wolves and other predators are a very healthy part of ecological system while Jeremiah Johnson Wannabees are not healthy for wilderness habitat or even ungulate herds. So, a plan to keep Elmer Fudd Nimrods happy and keep them out of the wilderness is even a better one than meadow creation.

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  2. Did you compile this

    Louise Kane louise@kaneproductions.net 508-237-8326

    From: Exposing the Big Game Reply-To: Exposing the Big Game Date: Saturday, February 15, 2014 1:05 PM To: louise kane Subject: [New post] Weekly Wolf News

    WordPress.com Exposing the Big Game posted: “I hope all these links work for you… Latest Posted Idaho Wolf Hunt Kill total (current season):169 Latest Posted Idaho Wolf Trapping Kill total: 78 Latest Posted Montana Wolf Hunt Kill Total (current season): 137 “

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