Wallowa County Chieftain
Three potentially undocumented wolves showed up on a local trail camera in late July, the Chieftain has learned.
Enterprise resident Mike Crawford contacted the newspaper Friday, Oct. 7, to provide images he said were shot July 25-28 by his trail camera located on the northern part of Lord Flat Ridge, in the Hells Canyon unit near the Snake River. The images show three apparently uncollared wolves – two adults and a pup.
Crawford and wolf videographer Mark Bales also showed a reporter photographs of wolf scat and paw prints discovered near the trail camera’s location.
By the time this week’s issue was being readied for the press, the Chieftain was unable to reach either of the two local wolf coordinators for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. ODFW spokesperson Michelle Dennehy confirmed, however, that the agency is taking the report of the wolves seriously and plans to conduct a field investigation next week.
According to Dennehy, current membership of the Imnaha pack includes, at a minimum, one collared adult alpha male, one collared adult alpha female, one uncollared subordinate adult of undetermined gender, and one uncollared pup.