by George Plaven
Northeast Oregon ranchers are again seeking to eradicate the entire Pine Creek wolf pack from Baker County after the apex predators attacked livestock for the third time in just over a week.
The most recent incident was confirmed Sunday, April 15 at Pine Creek Ranch in Halfway, Oregon. A 125-pound calf was found dead with bite marks on its hind legs and fresh wolf tracks at the scene. GPS collar data also shows OR-50 and OR-57, members of the Pine Creek pack, were within a mile of the carcass earlier that morning.
The pack is now responsible for killing five calves and wounding four others at two different ranches since April 6, prompting the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association to ask the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to kill all Pine Creek wolves to prevent further losses.
“The wolves are being seen on the valley floor, and that’s what’s really disconcerting folks,” said George Rollins, a Baker County rancher and co-chairman of the OCA wolf committee for Eastern Oregon. “So many people have seen them now, it’s like daily sightings.”
Read the whole story at the East Oregonian.