Pinnacle wolves marked for death in Wyoming

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Pinnacle Peak Slaughter

Wyoming now… we have to work harder, gain National Attention

A wolf pack that’s been maiming and killing calves and full-grown cattle about 4 miles north of Jackson is in the crosshairs of federal wildlife managers.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have authorized the removal of four wolves from a pack that has localized on private land south of Grand Teton National Park. Over the weekend one of the lobos was caught in a leghold trap and killed, and other traps and calling and shooting techniques will be used to try to dispatch three more animals, said Tyler Abbott, the agency’s deputy field supervisor for Wyoming.

“We had depredations starting in that area as early as April,” Abbott said. “It settled down for a little bit, but in the last week and a half it really started up in a pretty significant way, and it became clear that we need to do something.”

Spread across two attacks, two adult cows have been killed and four calves have been injured over the past two weeks, said Mike Foster, the Wyoming director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture agency Wildlife Services. One of the calves had to be put down because of the extent of its injuries, he said.

The ground-based techniques, as opposed to the more typical aerial gunning method, were selected to avoid flying over populated areas and to make sure the wolves that are killed are those responsible for the cattle deaths, Abbott said.

“The main reason is that we really want to focus on the animals here that are depredating the livestock,” Abbott said.

A lot of wolves, Abbott said, are moving through Spring Gulch-area ranch land at the moment. He was unsure which pack was being targeted by Wildlife Services, which conducts lethal operations on behalf of Fish and Wildlife.

But GPS collar data collected by Grand Teton National Park suggests that the wolves in question are a group that has denned on the National Elk Refuge and spends time in the park and the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

“Our understanding is that it’s the Pinnacle Peak Pack,” Grand Teton National Park spokesman Andrew White said.

The Pinnacle Peak Pack numbered a robust 14 animals at the end of 2015, according to federal reports, which would have been before the pack added new puppies.

Ranchers reported to Abbott seeing “15 to 20 wolves” on their property. The short duration that carcasses lasted, Abbott said, suggested that a large number of animals were feeding on the downed cows.

“They’ve gotten pretty much cleaned off within 48 hours,” he said.

Wildlife Services’ Foster said two ranching operations have sustained losses.

An employee of the Walton Ranch reached by phone last week confirmed there’s been conflict with Walton cattle, but he declined to give an interview.

Spring Gulch rancher Russ Lucas, who had a calf killed by wolves in May, said Monday that he’s run into no problems of late.

Source: Pinnacle wolves marked for death – Jackson Hole News&Guide: Local

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