Radio-collared wolf killed in Idaho
By SHERRY DEVLIN
The Missoulian
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents discovered the carcass of a
radio-collared gray wolf earlier this week on national forest land west of
Salmon, Idaho.
The wolf had been illegally shot and killed sometime within the last three
weeks, said special agent Craig Tabor.
Wolf recovery managers knew the 2- to 3-year-old female wolf as No. 134, a
member of the Jureano pack that roams the Salmon-Challis National Forest.
The Jureano pack is one of 17 wolf packs in central Idaho.
Officials went in search of No. 134 after its radio collar began emitting
a mortality signal – meaning the animal had not moved for a number of
days. The carcass was found near the Bear Track Mine, a short distance
from Forest Road 242.
Earlier this fall, the Fish and Wildlife Service authorized the killing of
a male and female wolf from the Jureano pack after biologists confirmed
the animals were responsible for livestock depredations in the Salmon
area.
But only federal agents are authorized to shoot wolves.
Last summer, the pack was the focus of a “fladry” experiment run by
Defenders of Wildlife, a conservation group that pays livestock owners for
their wolf-related losses. “Fladry” is a type of flagging that waves in
the wind and has been used in the Balkans to turn wolves away from
livestock.
Nine miles of the flagging was strung around a ranch in the Salmon-Challis
National Forest over the summer.
Gray wolves are listed as threatened and protected under the federal
Endangered Species Act. A conviction for harming or killing a federally
protected species carries the possibility of a year in jail and a fine of
up to $100,000.
The Fish and Wildlife Service and Defenders of Wildlife are offering a
$5,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the death of wolf
No. 134. Anyone with information should contact Tabor at (208) 378-5333 or
special agent Carter Niemeyer at (208) 378-5639.
Sunday, December 1, 2002