Idaho wolf conflicts rise
KETCHUM, Idaho (AP) — As Idaho awaits a federal decision on whether to remove its wolves from the federal endangered species list, conflicts between the predators and ranchers in the central part of the state have re-emerged with the coming of spring.
A rancher south of Sun Valley last month shot a wolf he said had been harassing livestock on private land, the state Department of Fish and Game reported this week.
Federal rules allow ranchers to shoot wolves that are harassing their cattle or sheep in Idaho and Montana.
The rancher killed the wolf, a 90-pound female, on March 19. He spent the next few days trying to scare away two others that remained in the area.
On March 27, federal Wildlife Services agents confirmed the wolves had killed a calf on the same private land near Picabo. They’re now trying to remove the wolf or wolves that did it.
Idaho expects the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove wolves from federal Endangered Species Act protection by early next year, allowing the state to manage the predators whose numbers in Idaho now top 670. Counting Montana and Wyoming, there are 1,300 wolves in the region.