SPOKANE — As many as two wolves from a pack in northeast Washington are set to be killed following a series of attacks on livestock.
On Monday, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind authorized removing the wolves from the Leadpoint pack, a group of wolves in Stevens County near the Canadian border.
The announcement is an about-face from Susewind’s earlier decision. On Aug. 1, the director rejected lethal removal for the Leadpoint pack after wolves were deemed responsible for killing two calves and injuring another.
At the time, the agency said it declined lethal removal because someone had killed a female wolf in the pack for chasing livestock. WDFW staff believed the wolf’s death could change the pack’s behavior.
It appears that it didn’t. On Aug. 2, WDFW confirmed that wolves from the pack had injured a cow.
Susewind’s lethal removal authorization is good through Aug. 19, according to the announcement. It could be extended if more wolf attacks are confirmed.
At last count, WDFW estimated the Leadpoint pack consisted of at least seven adult wolves and an unknown number of pups. The pack’s territory is in the far northern portion of Stevens County, between the Columbia and Pend Oreille rivers.
WDFW first began investigating livestock attacks in the area in late June, when the agency confirmed that a wolf had injured a calf. The calf later died.
In late July, more attacks were confirmed. The pack was named the culprit in the death of one calf and the injury of another.
Between those two incidents, someone killed the female wolf that was chasing livestock, which WDFW officials hoped would “disrupt depredation patterns of the pack.”
After the pack injured a cow in early August, WDFW staff began reconsidering that approach. Even with livestock producers using multiple non-lethal measures to prevent wolf kills, such as range riding and managing wolf attractants like carcasses, WDFW is concerned the Leadpoint pack will continue attacking livestock.
Monday’s announcement means WDFW has launched wolf-killing efforts for two separate packs in Stevens County. Officials are still trying to kill a wolf from the Dominion pack, closer to Colville.
Lethal removal was approved for the Dominion pack on July 30 after WDFW found the wolves were responsible for killing three calves and injuring six others.
WDFW announced last week that the Dominion pack has killed and injured even more animals. The agency now considers it responsible for five livestock deaths and 13 livestock injuries since July 19.
Staci Lehman, a WDFW spokesperson, said agency staff have been looking for the wolves daily but have been unsuccessful in killing one.
