Wolf Report: Update

September 23 through September 25, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services used a helicopter to remove six wolves following livestock depredations in late August and September. Two of the wolves were taken on Lava Ridge in the Payette National Forest on the September 23 and 24. The remaining four wolves were taken on Danskin Ridge in the Boise National Forest on September 25. Earlier in September, a Salmon area rancher reported that wolves attacked and injured one of his calves. The calf was taken to a veterinarian on September 22. Wildlife Services agents confirmed that the calf had been attacked and bitten by a wolf or wolves. Wildlife Services will monitor this incident, but no action was taken at the time, except to instruct the range-rider to keep close watch on the livestock and to contact Wildlife Services if anything develops. Wolf control actions, authorized by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and carried out by the federal Wildlife Services, are in no danger of jeopardizing wolf recovery in Idaho. Since their reintroduction in 1995 and 1996, the wolf population in Idaho has grown to about 650 wolves, based on preliminary results of observations this year. Biologists estimated 74 packs, with at least 31 potential breeding pairs, and 176 new pups in Idaho this year. The estimated growth rate is about 20 percent. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers the wolf recovered in the northern Rocky Mountains. Federal officials are working on a proposal to remove wolves from the endangered species list in Idaho and Montana separately from Wyoming, which would be a break from policy of considering the wolf population in all three states together.