Wolves found dead in Ninemile
By MICHAEL MOORE of the Missoulian
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the deaths of two wolves in the upper Ninemile Valley.
The deaths occurred in the “past couple of days,” said Neill Hartman,
assistant special agent in charge of law enforcement for the USFWS’s
regional office in Denver.
“We do have more mortalities,” Hartman said Thursday. “We are still
investigating the causes of death. It’s premature to say two wolves were
shot.”
USFWS agent Rick Branzell, who works out of Missoula, was in the Ninemile
Thursday working on the case.
The Ninemile is awash in wolf controversy – the predator has made a
remarkable
recovery in the valley west of Missoula, but wolves also have been
responsible
for the deaths of several llamas.