Wolf Report: Rancher Kills Wolf

In mid-March, a rancher shot a wolf as it reportedly harassed livestock on private land south of Sun Valley. Officials with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S.D.A. Wildlife Services on March 19 investigated the shooting of an uncollared, gray female, 80- to 90-pound wolf. The investigators determined the shooting was within the legal provisions of the federal regulations governing reintroduced wolves in Idaho south of Interstate 90. Two other wolves were still in the area, and the rancher continued nonlethal efforts to scare them away. Then March 27, Wildlife Services confirmed that wolves had killed a calf on the same private land near Picabo where the rancher had killed the wolf about a week earlier. Efforts are underway to remove the wolf or wolves. On March 21, Wildlife Services had investigated a report that wolves had killed a horse on a private ranch near St. Maries. The wolves apparently had fed on the horse carcass, but officials did not find enough evidence to determine a cause of death. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released its annual Rocky Mountain wolf recovery for 2006. The report includes a summary of wolf recovery related activities in Idaho. The entire report is available on the Idaho Department of Fish and Game's Website at: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/wildlife/wolves/. Wolf control actions, authorized by Fish and Game and carried out by the federal Wildlife Services as part of the wolf reintroduction program, do not jeopardize wolf recovery in Idaho. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers the wolf recovered in the northern Rocky Mountains and has started the process to remove the wolf from the endangered species list. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's weekly wolf reports as well as annual reports, can be viewed at http://westerngraywolf.fws.gov/.