ODFW confirms first wolf kill in Wallowa County
By Kathleen Ellyn, Wallowa County Chieftain, 5/7/2010 [here]
Wallowa County rancher Bob Lathrop has become the first to suffer a confirmed wolf kill of livestock in Wallowa County. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has confirmed that the calf killed May 5 on the Lewis Road/Dorrance Grade 17 miles northeast of Enterprise was killed by wolves.
The calf was in a pasture of young cows and calves recently moved from a home pasture to grazing near Zumwalt Prairie. ODFW employee Jason Moncrief, who was hired to haze elk back from Zumwalt Prairie into the forest, saw four wolves in the cow/calf pasture the morning of Wednesday, May 5, and later in the day saw carrion birds fly from the same pasture.
He investigated, discovered the partially eaten remains of the approximately two-month-old calf scattered across the field, and reported the find.
Oregon Department of Fish and Game (ODFW) District Biologist Vic Coggins and rancher Tom Birkmeier happened to be in the area and responded immediately. U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services wolf hunter Marlyn Riggs and Rod Childers, wolf committee chairman for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) arrived shortly thereafter. Coggins and Riggs confirmed the kill. ODFW Wolf Program Coordinator Russ Morgan was out of town but returned immediately, arriving on Thursday to second the confirmation. The wolves are believed to be part of the 10-wolf Imnaha pack.
“It was sheer luck we got that confirmation,” said Childers. “If Jason hadn’t been passing by, seen those wolves and then checked it out, and if Tom and Vic hadn’t been in the area right then, this would be another unconfirmed kill.”
Wallowa County ranchers have been complaining for months that young calves are being entirely eaten, and that since they can only report mother cows with no calves, the predation of dozens of calves has not been confirmed by ODFW.
Childers said that the Association had requested that the wolves be permanently removed from the area or killed. However, a press release from ODFW said that the agency planned to use non-lethal measures to avoid future incidents as the first response to wolf depredation.
“It’s ludicrous,” said Childers. “ODFW says that all of the non-lethal actions we’ve been taking in this county are ‘preventative.’ I asked what the difference was between non-lethal and preventative and there is no difference. If there was more that we could do we would do it, but basically we have to wait until there are more dead livestock confirmed as wolf kills before ODFW can possibly take an action. If these four wolves get back into the pack before there is another depredation, we can’t identify the specific wolves and the whole process starts over again. This could go on all summer.”
Lathrop told ranchers he would be sleeping with his cattle for the next few days, but has three pastures of cattle. “What’s he going to do,” Childers asked, “flip a coin as to which pasture he should be sleeping in?”
Several other cattle carcasses have been photographed and reported as suspected wolf kills in Wallowa County, but were too well-eaten to show the distinctive bite marks of wolves and gain confirmation by ODFW biologists. Ranchers are also reporting changes in behavior by cattle consistent with harassment by wolves. One serious consequence of wolf harassment reported by ranchers in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana is that stock dogs can no longer work cattle because fear of dogs causes cattle to bunch up protectively instead of herd, Childers said. Childers said the OCA is asking ranchers to document any and all interactions with wolves, behavior of cattle, and preventative actions taken. “We need to get this Wolf Plan and the state Endangered Species Laws changed,” said Childers.
There are two known wolf packs wolves in Oregon, both in Wallowa County. ODFW confirms a pack of 10 in the Imnaha area and another pack estimated to be of four in the Wenaha area. Other single wolves are believed to be dispersed throughout the state. Approximately 30 head of livestock have been confirmed killed by the wolves in the last 12 months; 29 in five attacks in Baker County and one in Wallowa County.