Wolf Report: Update

In early October, state and federal wolf managers confirmed several livestock depredation incidents, all on grazing allotments in the Payette National Forest. U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services officials confirmed that eight ewes were killed, one injured - and 32 are missing - and one cow and one calf also were killed or probably killed by wolves. Some of the animals were moving through an area where bands of sheep are trailed on their way off the national forest. Idaho Fish and Game authorized the removal of three wolves, and traps were set. 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.