By MITCH LIES
Capital Press
When it comes to confirming whether a wolf was involved in killing livestock, timing is everything.
State wildlife biologists were on the scene within 24 hours in 11 of the 12 confirmed wolf kills in Oregon last year. In eight of the cases, biologists were on the scene the same day.
“Fresh is always the best,” Russ Morgan, wolf coordinator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said. “But sometimes, because of remote locations, these things just aren’t found very quickly, and they are pretty well eaten on.
“The more carcass that is available for us to look at, the more we can tell about what might have happened to it,” Morgan said.
Only in cases where livestock deaths are classified by state officials as “confirmed wolf” are ranchers eligible for payment from the state’s wolf compensation fund.
Morgan said ODFW’s 42 field biologists travel to depredation scenes as quickly as possible. Also, he said, state wildlife agents ask for help from federal Wildlife Services agents in cases where the federal agents are on the scene first.
“Sometimes a carcass is found late afternoon or in the evening and we aren’t able to get there until early the next day,” Morgan said. “But in general we always try to get there the same day.”
When called to a depredation scene, biologists treat the event as a wolf investigation if the affected rancher suspects wolves are involved, Morgan said.
From there, biologists “go as far as we need to go to make a determination,” Morgan said.
“Oftentimes, if there is plenty of carcass left, it can be determined if a wolf was involved in pretty short order,” Morgan said. “If you don’t find the answers, you just keep going.
“Most of our field biologists are pretty experienced at looking at dead animals and determining what happened,” Morgan said.