Sleeping Child wolf pack destroyed
Nonlethal measures prove ineffective for growing pack
by BROOKE BARNETT - Ravalli Republic
Ranchers near Sula will sleep a little easier tonight, and so will their cattle, after a pack of wolves that preyed on livestock this summer was destroyed yesterday.
Some of the wolves were shot last Friday, according to Fish, Wildlife and Parks wolf program coordinator Carolyn Sime - leaving four Sleeping Child pack members, including a collared alpha female, to be killed yesterday, said local rancher John Myers.
According to FWP Bitterroot wildlife biologist John Vore, there are approximately seven wolf packs remaining in this area after the destruction of the Sleeping Child pack.
Confrontations between the Sleeping Child pack and livestock started in May, when Myers reported a steer killed on his French Basin-area ranch in the East Fork of the Bitterroot River drainage. The next day, his 10-year-old black lab, Yukon, was found dead less than 30 yards from his back door. Officials later confirmed each incident as wolf kills.
“So I went up the food chain at FWP,” said Myers, owner of the Shining Mountain Ranch since 1992. “I talked to Carolyn (Sime), but she wouldn't do anything until we lost another animal.”
FWP trapped and collared two of the wolves in June, in an attempt to track their movements and use nonlethal removal strategies, such as noisemakers and human presence. Sime said that when wolves begin to key in on livestock as a food source, the agency tries to “demonstrate (wolves) are unwelcome in the area by using cracker shells and rubber bullets.”
In July, wolves killed another steer on Myers' ranch and two calves on a neighboring farm, according to Myers, and that's when officials authorized the killing of two wolves.
The removal of two wolves did not deter the rest of the pack, and three FWP workers spent two weeks trying to haze and harass the wolves by staying up nights honking horns and flashing lights.
“The wolves never left to follow the elk” when the elk herds moved into higher elevations in early summer, Myers said. And they didn't leave after the two weeks of harassment either.
Liz Bradley, a wolf specialist with FWP who had been involved in the attempted hazing, returned to track the wolves' movement after the repeated efforts to deter them from the livestock area, said Myers. “She spotted the bitch with seven pups right back above the cattle,” he said. “Then on the 30th (of July), I had two within 150 yards of my house, chasing the horses again.”
After officials confirmed the pack killed a calf on Aug. 1, FWP authorized the lethal removal of the remaining wolves, and most were destroyed last week by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Two of the remaining four were killed Tuesday morning, said Myers, who expected the last two, one of which was the collared alpha female, would be killed by Tuesday evening.
Montana is one of only two states that has partially taken over management of gray wolves from the federal government, and wolves in the Bitterroot area are currently listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. Until July of last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was the lead agency for managing wolves in Montana. But under a cooperative agreement, the department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks is now responsible for conducting population monitoring, research and public outreach.
The agency also determines when nonlethal and lethal wolf-control actions are appropriate to reduce conflicts with livestock, although federal guidelines related to lethal control must still be followed. Because the wolf is still protected under the Endangered Species Act, hunting is prohibited until the wolf is delisted.
Wolf-livestock issues have been heating up in other parts of Montana, as well. A legislative committee will meet Aug. 11 in Ennis to hear presentations and take public comment on wolf management issues. The meeting is hosted by the Agency Oversight Subcommittee of the Environmental Quality Council, which has some oversight responsibilities for FWP. More information about the meeting can be found on the Web at http://leg.state.mt.us/css/lepo
Nonlethal measures prove ineffective for growing pack
by BROOKE BARNETT - Ravalli Republic
Ranchers near Sula will sleep a little easier tonight, and so will their cattle, after a pack of wolves that preyed on livestock this summer was destroyed yesterday.
Some of the wolves were shot last Friday, according to Fish, Wildlife and Parks wolf program coordinator Carolyn Sime - leaving four Sleeping Child pack members, including a collared alpha female, to be killed yesterday, said local rancher John Myers.
According to FWP Bitterroot wildlife biologist John Vore, there are approximately seven wolf packs remaining in this area after the destruction of the Sleeping Child pack.
Confrontations between the Sleeping Child pack and livestock started in May, when Myers reported a steer killed on his French Basin-area ranch in the East Fork of the Bitterroot River drainage. The next day, his 10-year-old black lab, Yukon, was found dead less than 30 yards from his back door. Officials later confirmed each incident as wolf kills.
“So I went up the food chain at FWP,” said Myers, owner of the Shining Mountain Ranch since 1992. “I talked to Carolyn (Sime), but she wouldn't do anything until we lost another animal.”
FWP trapped and collared two of the wolves in June, in an attempt to track their movements and use nonlethal removal strategies, such as noisemakers and human presence. Sime said that when wolves begin to key in on livestock as a food source, the agency tries to “demonstrate (wolves) are unwelcome in the area by using cracker shells and rubber bullets.”
In July, wolves killed another steer on Myers' ranch and two calves on a neighboring farm, according to Myers, and that's when officials authorized the killing of two wolves.
The removal of two wolves did not deter the rest of the pack, and three FWP workers spent two weeks trying to haze and harass the wolves by staying up nights honking horns and flashing lights.
“The wolves never left to follow the elk” when the elk herds moved into higher elevations in early summer, Myers said. And they didn't leave after the two weeks of harassment either.
Liz Bradley, a wolf specialist with FWP who had been involved in the attempted hazing, returned to track the wolves' movement after the repeated efforts to deter them from the livestock area, said Myers. “She spotted the bitch with seven pups right back above the cattle,” he said. “Then on the 30th (of July), I had two within 150 yards of my house, chasing the horses again.”
After officials confirmed the pack killed a calf on Aug. 1, FWP authorized the lethal removal of the remaining wolves, and most were destroyed last week by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Two of the remaining four were killed Tuesday morning, said Myers, who expected the last two, one of which was the collared alpha female, would be killed by Tuesday evening.
Montana is one of only two states that has partially taken over management of gray wolves from the federal government, and wolves in the Bitterroot area are currently listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. Until July of last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was the lead agency for managing wolves in Montana. But under a cooperative agreement, the department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks is now responsible for conducting population monitoring, research and public outreach.
The agency also determines when nonlethal and lethal wolf-control actions are appropriate to reduce conflicts with livestock, although federal guidelines related to lethal control must still be followed. Because the wolf is still protected under the Endangered Species Act, hunting is prohibited until the wolf is delisted.
Wolf-livestock issues have been heating up in other parts of Montana, as well. A legislative committee will meet Aug. 11 in Ennis to hear presentations and take public comment on wolf management issues. The meeting is hosted by the Agency Oversight Subcommittee of the Environmental Quality Council, which has some oversight responsibilities for FWP. More information about the meeting can be found on the Web at http://leg.state.mt.us/css/lepo
