The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service authorized the lethal removal of two gray wolves west of Salmon, Idaho, yesterday. The wolves, an uncollared sub-adult male and the alpha female (B-46), were members of the Jureano Pack. Both animals were shot from a helicopter by USDA Wildlife Services, according to the Services Idaho wolf recovery coordinator, Carter Niemeyer.
Lethal control was ordered in response to confirmed depredations by the Jureano Pack in this area. Seven domestic calf kills across several Salmon private landowners properties have been documented by wolf recovery specialists since mid-June.
The Service also issued a private landowner lethal control permit in mid-September after livestock depredation by members of the Jureano Pack were confirmed. The 45-day permit will be remain valid until the livestock are moved from the ranch.
Neimeyer noted that the Service, Wildlife Services, and the Nez Perce Tribe had exhausted all reasonable efforts to use non-lethal means to discourage chronic depredation incidents. Niemeyer stated, "The Jureano wolf pack has demonstrated habituated behavior toward killing domestic livestock in this area. Further confirmed depredations by this pack will result in incremental removal of additional pack members."
Various non-lethal efforts to control the Jureano Pack were implemented this summer. One non-lethal method, the use of fladry, (twine with 3" X 20" red ribbon spaced every 18" and placed around fence perimeters), was used to prevent depredations on a private ranch that the wolves frequented. The several-mile fladry barrier was successful in preventing the wolves from depredating for about two months; however, this method ultimately proved not to prevent the Jureano Pack from livestock depredation on the ranch.
Wolves in Idaho continue to make progress toward recovery despite the occasional implementation of lethal control measures. About two dozen wolves have been killed as a result of livestock depredation since the 1995 reintroduction of 35 gray wolves into the Idaho nonessential, experimental area. The yearly count for 2002 will be completed in December, but it is estimated that Idaho currently has about 260 individuals.
-- FWS
