Cougars Are Killing a Surprising Number of Wolves Washington State

[cheeser]

Cougars Are Killing a Surprising Number of Wolves Washington State

According to the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, the number of wolves killed by cougars is on the rise in the Evergreen State.

www.fieldandstream.com

 

[fowladdict]

I'm not sure why 5 documented wolf kills over the last 10 years is a "surprising number". 1 known wolf kill by every two years by a lion...seems legit. All 5 may have happened while fighting over a fresh kill. I wonder how many wolves get killed/injured by bears.

 

[Gus Chiggins]

Interesting article. Seems like 4 or 5 years ago another article had come out (maybe Bugle?) discussing a study of who was winning in confrontations between wolves and cougars. If I recall, wolves (maybe by pack) were killing cougars at a higher rate than vice versa.

And not to hijack the thread, but that article has a link to a March 9 article: "Wolves on Alaskan Island Shift to Hunting Sea Otters After Decimating Deer Population"

 

[atlas]

I was fishing a river NE of Jackson Hole a few years ago and a warden came by in a kayak and checked my license. I was working in the area for just the summer and asked him about hunting and stuff he gets up to as a warden around there.

We talked about mountain lions and he seemed to think that the wolves had either killed or displaced a lot of the mountain lions in the last 15 years, especially in the more mellow and open terrain. He said it was to the point that houndsmen weren't as active in the area anymore.

 

[Buffs35]

With the thread title, I came here thinking I'd see pictures of beautifully aged women hunting wolves. Quite disappointed.

 

[SAJ-99]

With the thread title, I came here thinking I'd see pictures of beautifully aged women hunting wolves. Quite disappointed.

Same response I got 5 months ago.

Washington Super Cougars

Interesting findings... Since 2013, WDFW staff have documented at least four collared wolves being killed by cougars. That’s more than has been documented in the entire Northern Rocky Mountains in twice as much time, despite that being a much larger area with many more wolves than Washington...

www.hunttalk.com

 

[3855WIN]

I'm not sure why 5 documented wolf kills over the last 10 years is a "surprising number". 1 known wolf kill by every two years by a lion...seems legit. All 5 may have happened while fighting over a fresh kill. I wonder how many wolves get killed/injured by bears.

I think it’s surprising because these are the ones that are known about. How many are unknown?

 

[belshawelk]

Go Cougs. Both the team and the critter. I wish people killed more wolves. Cougars are a killing machine when by themselves.

 

[Gus Chiggins]

A recent article from a NE Oregon news source about Moose in NE Oregon, mentioned the former (endangered) mountain caribou herd in NE Washington. The her is gone, apparently, from predation. Article mentions both wolves and cougars. The known moose population in NE Oregon, including in one unit I frequent, hit its peak at 70 in 2013, but is now down to about 30. We just can't have nice things.