Wolf shot near Salmon
$5,000 reward offered
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) agents discovered November 27
the
carcass of a radio-collared gray wolf that apparently was shot within the
past three weeks. The carcass was found near the Bear Track Mine, a short
distance from Forest Road 242 on national forest land west of Salmon.
FWS and Defenders of Wildlife are offering up to a $5,000 reward for
information leading to a conviction in this case.
The two- to three-year-old female wolf, known as #134, was a member
of
the Jureano pack, which occupies the Salmon-Challis National Forest near
Salmon. The carcass was discovered when her radio collar emitted a
mortality signal.
The Jureano pack is one of about 17 packs among Idaho’s
non-essential,
experimental population. Individual wolves in Idaho are considered
threatened under the Endangered Species Act. A conviction for harming or
killing a federally protected species carries the possibility of a year in
jail and up to a $100,000 fine.
FWS authorized the lethal removal of a male and female wolf from the
Jureano pack on October 8, 2002, because biologists confirmed they were
responsible for livestock depredations in the Salmon area. Ranchers who
experience livestock losses because of wolves are eligible for monetary
compensation under a special program administered by Defenders of
Wildlife.
The Jureano pack this summer was the subject of a special “fladry”
study run by Defenders of Wildlife in cooperation with the FWS and USDA
Wildlife Services. Fladry, a type of flagging that waves in the wind, is a
psychological barrier that has been used for centuries in the Balkans to
turn wolves away from livestock. Nine miles of fladry were strung around a
ranch in the Salmon-Challis National Forest this summer.