By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
A white wolf that had roamed in and near the Indian Trails subdivision since December has been trapped and killed, federal wildlife officials said Wednesday.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wyoming wolf recovery coordinator Mike Jimenez euthanized the wolf. The animal — a large, old female — “settled with another female wolf in the outskirts of Jackson over the past two months and had been reported to the service by concerned citizens,” officials said in a statement.
“Unfortunately … these two wolves settled into a high human density area and seemed to be forming a pack,” Jimenez said in the statement. “Due to safety concerns, the [U.S. Fish and Wildlife] Service believed this was unacceptable. We tracked one of the wolves down, captured it and humanely euthanized it … ”
The suburban wolves mark a new era for management of the predator in Jackson Hole. Last year, Wyoming Game and Fish biologists predicted that wolves and grizzly bears might begin to follow large ungulates, particularly elk, into developed areas.
News of the wolves spread quickly after an Indian Trails resident posted video footage of the animals near his home on YouTube in late February. The video prompted some neighbors to worry about pets, while others said the sighting was part of living in a region with robust wildlife populations, including large predators. Though wolf attacks on humans are exceedingly rare, some neighbors also feared wolves might attack children.
Since then, wolves were reported to have attacked a dog south of Wilson. The dog did not die, officials said. Wolves also killed an elk in the middle of a neighborhood south of the airport earlier this month.
“Thanks to the effective conservation of the northern Rocky Mountain wolf population, there is a healthy, robust population of wolves on the Wyoming landscape now,” Jimenez said. “With this increased number of wolves, there is increased potential for wolves to come in conflict with human beings. The service is prepared to deal appropriately with such conflicts and did just that in this instance.”
The other wolf remains in developed areas, and Jimenez will continue to track the animal, “but it’s possible the lone wolf will wonder off as a disperser and not need to be controlled,” officials said.