The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has authorized the lethal control of a wolf pack that repeatedly preyed on sheep near McCall, Idaho. The control action was completed today by agents of the U.S. Department of Agricultures Wildlife Services.
All nine members of the Cook wolf pack were shot and killed on July 20. The wolves were confirmed to have killed more than 100 sheep belonging to one rancher. The sheep were grazing on Federal and State land allotments. Two additional wolf packs, Partridge and Hazard Lake, are believed to be killing sheep belonging to the same rancher, and control actions may be authorized for those wolves. The Cook pack was responsible for killing more than 90 sheep in the same area last year, and that control action resulted in the shooting of two wolves.
The depredations began in early July and subsequently were confirmed to be caused by wolves. The rancher and herders tried to ward off the wolves and prevent continued depredations but were unsuccessful. They had camped with the sheep in the allotments and used guard-dogs, crackershells fired from shotguns, radio-activated guard boxes (light and siren scare devices) and other methods to scare off the wolves. Biologists from the Nez Perce Tribe, which monitors wolves for the Service, also attempted to haze the wolves from the area.
"Non-lethal methods were tried, but they didnt work and the wolves continued to kill sheep," said Carter Niemeyer, the Services wolf recovery coordinator for Idaho. "Wolf recovery has been very successful in Idaho, but weve always said we wont tolerate wolves that are confirmed to be chronically killing livestock."
Under Service policy, non-lethal methods to control chronically depredating wolves are attempted before lethal control is authorized. While livestock depredations remain below predicted levels, any loss of livestock to wolves is taken seriously and may include the removal of those wolves.
As of 2003, the Cook pack was the largest wolf pack in Idaho, according to the Nez Perce Tribe.
A total of 35 wolves were reintroduced to the central Idaho wilderness in 1995 and 1996. By 2003, the population had grown to an estimated 356 wolves. Of the 37 documented packs in Idaho in 2003, nine packs were involved in livestock depredations. Last year, 13 calves, 118 sheep and six guard dogs were confirmed killed by wolves in the state. ; Earlier this year the Service authorized killing three wolves for preying on calves and sheep near Bennett Mountain, Idaho.
