GEORGE PLAVEN / East Oregonian
A newly documented wolf is likely paired up with a mate and rearing pups in rural Umatilla County, according to the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife.
Known as OR-26, the 100-pound male was discovered this spring on private land north of Meacham in the Mount Emily wildlife management unit. Biologists collared the wolf May 25 and data shows it has remained in roughly the same area
“We strongly suspect pup rearing is happening, but we haven’t confirmed that by actually going and observing pups,” Morgan said.
If pups are found, it would be the second confirmed wolf pack in the Mount Emily unit. There is another Mount Emily pack, with pups discovered last year, in Union County between Pendleton and La Grande.
Other packs across northeast Oregon include the Imnaha, Wenaha, Snake River, Umatilla River, Minam and Walla Walla packs. ODFW officially recorded 64 wolves at the end of 2013, and the population continues to grow.
The department has also established an “area of known wolf activity” for OR-26, which coordinates with local livestock producers to minimize conflict with the predators. Morgan said he is very pleased so far with the response of area ranchers.
There are no known or suspected attacks on livestock in the area. If a wolf is later proved to kill livestock, then ODFW will establish what is called an “area of depredating wolves.”
At that point, producers must be using approved non-lethal management — such as removing bone piles or unnatural attractants, hiring range riders or installing fladry fencing — in order for confirmed incidents of predation to qualify toward lethal control of a pack.
For now, Morgan said the collar on OR-26 should continue to feed new information about the animal’s activity and whereabouts.
“He’s not just traveling through the area,” Morgan said. “He doesn’t appear to be just a disperser.”
More information about the new area of wolf activity can be found online at www.dfw.state.or.us/Wolves.