September 21, 2016,September 28, 2016, a probable wolf depredation not a confirmed depredation. September 29, 2016, so how is it legal… considering that 3 of these events are outside of their so called rolling 10 month period!! and only 2 were confirmed, not all three?
The Smackout Pack did not have a fourth depredation within the last 10 months… only 3, which has prompted WDFW to initiate the provisions of the wolf-livestock interactions protocol (Protocol) developed jointly by WAG and the Department earlier this year.
The four depredations they are counting by the Smackout pack include:
- September 21, 2016, a confirmed wolf depredation resulting in a dead calf. WDFW staff investigating the depredation indicated the injuries to the calf were the result of a signature style wolf attack. The injuries were bite lacerations to both armpit areas, both sides of the groin, the utter, the under belly, both shoulder points, the right Achilles, the left side of the jaw and the head and neck. All bite lacerations showed signs of oxygenation,indicating the calf was alive during the attack. Present at the kill site were wolf tracks and scat. GPS locations from a collared member of the Smackout wolf pack were also present at the scene. During the investigation strong signals from the collared member of the Smackout wolf pack were picked up on a WDFW receiver. There were no signs of any other predators or scavengers (ravens or turkey vultures) discovered near the kill site.
- September 28, 2016, a probable wolf depredation resulting in a dead calf. WDFW staff investigating the depredation indicated the 800-pound Charolais calf appeared to be deceased for two weeks. Intact skeletal remains were present with a small portion of the hide still attached to the remains. Bite lacerations present on the calf’s tail were consistent with a signature-style wolf attack. Bite lacerations discovered on the neck portion of calf’s hide were consistent with a signature-style wolf attack.Periodic GPS locations place collared members of the Smackout wolf pack within the USFS Grazing Allotment. Wolf tracks were discovered at the site of the calf remains.Other evidence had been scavenged. The precise location of the attack could not be determined due to the time frame and intermittent weather. The intact skeletal remains had been dragged 50 feet down a slight decline in the terrain from the rumen.
- September 29, 2016, a confirmed wolf depredation resulting in an injured calf. WDFW staff investigating the depredation indicated the Angus calf had bite lacerations to the right hamstring, upper right rear leg, inside right rear leg, outer right rear leg, point of right shoulder, lower right shoulder, right side of neck, point of left shoulder and lower left rear leg consistent with a signature style wolf attack. Three collared members from the Smackout wolf pack were monitored at the field where the calf was attacked during the early morning hours of 09-29-2016. Just after daylight on 09-29-2016, a minimum of three wolves were heard howling in the same field by a second group of range riders. GPS satellite locations placed the three collared members along the same fence line where the Angus calf was discovered for more than 6 hours.
- July 18, 2017, a confirmed wolf depredation resulting in an injured calf. WDFW staff investigating the depredation indicated the combination of evidence/information, including recent reports of wolves in the act of attacking calves and VHF signals from a Smackout wolf collar on July 18. An injured calf was found hemorrhaging with bite wounds on the left rear leg and left flank and recent wolf collar location data, along with a legal lethal take of a wolf at the end of June 2017 clearly indicate a wolf depredation on calf #110. Wolf GPS collar data indicated that two Smackout Pack wolves were within one mile of the pasture for the last 60 days on a frequent basis. Both collars (and other non-collared wolves) have been observed in the pasture and in the act of attacking calves at the end of June. The incident occurred in an area of fenced pastures which is part of the U.S. Forest Service grazing allotment.More information is available in the 2016 calendar year chronology of events document on the Department’s website, located here. As a result of these events, the criteria in the protocol for consideration and implementation of lethal removal have been reached for the Smackout pack.
WDFW Director Jim Unsworth has authorized lethal removal of wolves from the pack, consistent with the Department’s Wolf Conservation and Management plan and the wolf-livestock interactions protocol.