On Jan. 30 on a llama was found dead by owner, retired rancher Howard Cantrell on private land in rural Union County, Oregon.
Bite marks were consistent with wolf predation. Cantrell said they have been coming in from different directions every night. He says the previous night there had been a chase.
We are trying to understand why there were no deterrents being used. We also do not understand why he would leave them out all night. Why not put them in a little barn at night? It doesn’t have to be anything fancy and there are only 14 llamas. I would be concerned no matter what animals are left out all night and alone. So this is certainly something that could have been prevented. 
Hans Hayden, assistant district wildlife biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife Department has just installed flashing Foxlights and radio-activated alarm boxes to scare wolves from the property.
Given the number of deterrents available to all ranchers, we certainly hope they all take preventative measures. It’s extremely unfair to ALL the animals. No one wants llamas or cows to be killed (we think) but
This photo is just an example of a little barn that could have been used to prevent predation
ranchers must stop blaming wolves. We want the killing of wolves to end! There are only about 100 wolves in the entire state of Washington! If there were only 100-115 head of cattle or other animals in the state of Oregon and they were well protected we would certainly understand being upset. Yes, that sounds ridiculous to some but this is the truth and everyone should think about it for just a moment. With any business (even small) you set up a security system if you don’t want anyone breaking in. It’s not difficult and even if it was then it should not be an issue if they are concerned about their product being taken.
It is uncertain what wolves/pack it could have been but it was speculated that it may be the Meachum pack. OR-52 does actually have a collar, Hayden said, though it is not a GPS collar. It is a VHF, or “very high frequency” radio collar, which he said does not provide as much information as a GPS collar but lasts longer and is more reliable.
It’s time for all our responsible ranchers to get just a few different detergents set up to avoid any issues in the future.
~L.G
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