Protected Wolf In Tracked Pack Killed In Ore.

Male wolf from Wenaha Pack found dead last week.

State authorities confirmed Tuesday that a federally protected wolf has been killed in northeastern Oregon.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife wolf coordinator Russ Morgan said the killed wolf was a 2-year-old Wenaha pack male recently fitted with a radio tracking collar. The silver male was captured and fitted in August, Morgan said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has jurisdiction since wolves were restored to the endangered species list in August, is investigating, he said.

Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Joan Jewett said it had no comment.

The wolf was a subdominant male and the only member of the pack carrying a radio collar, allowing biologists to track the pack's whereabouts. The pack has four adults and at least two pups.

Wiped out in Oregon by bounty hunters more than 60 years ago, wolves first returned to the state in 1998 from Idaho, where they were introduced in a federal effort to get them off the endangered species list.

Two other wolves have been illegally shot since then. Two from the Imnaha pack were killed by government hunters for attacking livestock.

Ranchers angry over the state management plan's limitations on killing wolves to protect livestock spoke out last week at an Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting.

"The more and more these depredations occur, ranchers are going to — I think these guys are going to defend themselves," Oregon Cattlemen's Association President Bill Hoyt said in an interview.

Steve Pedery, conservation director for Oregon Wild, a conservation group, said the Wenaha pack has not been tied to any livestock attacks.

"This wasn't something easily brushed aside, like somebody mistaking it for a coyote," said Pedery. "This was a silver wolf wearing a big honking radio collar that is hard to miss. Somebody was out to shoot a wolf. It is very important that the agencies get on top of this so it is a deterrent to other yahoos who want to follow suit. That's what makes us nervous about them being completely silent now."

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