Don Jenkins
Capital Press
The breeding female of southeastern Washington’s only wolf pack was found dead of an infection five days after being captured and fitted with a transmitting collar, state Fish and Wildlife Department officials said Monday.
The wolf, a member of the Tucannon pack, likely picked up the infection from a wound she received while being shot with a dart to immobilize her, WDFW wolf policy lead Donny Martorello said.
“It’s rare that it occurs, but anytime you handle wildlife and do that kind of immobilization, there is a chance of capture-related injury or mortality,” he said.
WDFW fits wolves with the collars to monitor progress toward recovery goals and track packs in grazing areas.
Prior to the female’s death, the department had successfully captured and collared 74 wolves, Martorello said.
WDFW will review what happened in the wolf’s death, but plans to continue trapping and collaring wolves, officials said.
The wolf was captured May 1. She was shot twice with darts to be completely immobilized, not an unusual occurrence, Martorello said.
Five days later, the collar signal had stopped moving, and WDFW officials found the wolf dead in Asotin County.
Washington State University veterinarians performed a necropsy. The full results were not available Monday, but WDFW believes an infection entered through a wound.
Although WDFW does not have an exact count, the breeding female likely had four to six pups, WDFW wolf specialist Scott Becker said.
The pups are likely 5 to 6 weeks old, the age pups are weaned, according to WDFW. The pack is thought to have four surviving adults.
“They (the pups) are not just left alone,” Becker said. “Other pack members are likely to step up.
“The best thing we can do is let that happen,” he said.
With the wolf’s death, WDFW does not have a working collar among the Tucannon pack. A collar on a male wolf stopped transmitting over the winter, but reported sightings suggest the wolf is still alive, Becker said.
The pack ranges into Oregon. Washington’s only confirmed livestock depredation this year was in the pack’s territory. A 4-day-old calf was killed April 18 in Asotin County about 10 miles southwest of the Idaho border.
The Tucannon pack roams in the eastern one-third of Washington, where wolves are not a federally protected species. Wolves are a state-protected species throughout Washington.