Wolves kill more cattle near Ennis
Associated Press
BOZEMAN ý A second wolf pack is attacking cattle in the Madison Valley, and federal wildlife agents have been ordered to wipe out both packs.
Two attacks that were discovered on the same ranch Tuesday were the work of a new, yet-unnamed pack, said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
He had ordered the eradication of the Sentinel pack last Friday after the pack killed a yearling steer and a familyýs dog near Cameron.
The latest attacks took place farther north in the Madisons.
The carcass of a 1-year-old steer was found Tuesday in a coulee east of Ennis Lake, Bangs said. A 1-year-old heifer on the same ranch was so badly injured by wolves Tuesday morning that the rancher had to kill it.
ýThat indicates to me that theyýre hunting livestock,ý Bangs said of the wolves. ýTheyýre not stumbling upon a calf and running off with it.ý
Bangs issued shoot-on-sight permits to two ranchers who have lost livestock to wolves in the past two weeks. Federal trappers are searching for the packs in helicopters.
Madison County commissioners and ranchers have criticized the federal agency for not issuing the shoot-on-sight permits sooner. Ranchers are afraid they will be prosecuted if they shoot problem wolves, Commissioner Ted Coffman said.
Bangs said he has explicitly told Madison Valley ranchers that they have the right to shoot a wolf without a permit if they catch it in the act of attacking livestock.
ýI donýt know what else to say,ý Bangs said. ýThey can shoot 50 (wolves) if they catch them.ý
However, Bangs said he had waited to issue the permits in hopes of protecting any collared wolves running with the packs. Without radio contact, it could take officials much longer to hunt down both packs.