Wolf shot and killed after killing calf near Mackay
by Todd Adams
The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) authorized the shooting
of an adult gray wolf near Mackay February 18 after it killed
calves on a nearby private ranch.
The wolf was shot and killed from the ground that day by an
agent of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services,
who tracked the wolf to determine whether it was responsible
for killing the livestock, according to a USFWS news release.
The two- to three-year-old uncollared wolf was not known to
be a member of any established pack. A second wolf was reported
to be involved in the depredation of calves but was not located
in the area.
The lone wolf had killed one calf, had probably killed two
others and possibly another two, for a total of five calves killed
on private ranch property in the Chilly area northwest of Mackay
Reservoir. The depredations took place over a period of 10 days,
Rick Williamson of Wildlife Services told the Messenger
last week.
The carcass of the one calf confirmed to be a wolf kill was
found on Saturday, February 15, said Williamson and Jim Holyam,
a biologist with the Nez Perce Tribe.
Wolf managers couldn’t say last week whether the wolf
responsible was a member of the Wildhorse Pack, Holyam and Williamson
told the Messenger, but Williamson said the Wildhorse
Pack is not suspected. The Wildhorse Pack has dispersed from
its territory in the Copper Basin area, the two said.
The alpha female of the Wildhorse Pack died of probable natural
causes in January of 2002, Williamson said, and the alpha male
dispersed to the Salmon River drainage. The defunct Wildhorse
Pack had nine members, he said.