Montana wolfpack culled

[Emily]

AP story:
http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/glob ... ?s=8045170

from the Billings Gazette:
http://billingsgazette.net/articles/200 ... wolves.txt

Wildlife officials kill pack's 4 wolves
By BRETT FRENCH
Of The Gazette Staff

Four wolves that made up the Moccasin Lake pack were shot by Wildlife Services officials Wednesday in the East Fork of the Boulder River drainage, south of Big Timber, after more livestock kills were confirmed.

"They're large carnivores; they're opportunistic," said Carolyn Sime, statewide wolf coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "The comparison has been made between bears and bird feeders. It's hard to get that learned behavior turned around."

The wolves were connected to a calf kill in the same area Saturday. The next day, the wolves reportedly returned and harassed the livestock but did not kill any. On Wednesday, as Wildlife Services officials were working in the area, they received a call from a landowner that a lamb and ewe had been killed closer to Big Timber. After investigating and determining that wolves had killed the animals, the officials tracked them through the snow. They had permission to kill two of the wolves and did. They then did more investigation at the sheep kill site, called FWP and got permission to shoot the other two wolves.

"They spend a great deal of time on private land and have demonstrated an escalating pattern of keying into livestock as a food source since January," Sime said. "We work closely with Wildlife Services and area landowners, but it's an FWP decision."

The pack had a history of livestock depredations, with one calf killed a year ago. One wolf was removed from the pack then.

Last year, FWP authorized the removal of three packs - 21 wolves - in similar situations. Eleven cattle were killed in those incidents. The packs that were removed were the Bearmouth pack near Drummond, the Wedge pack south of Ennis and the Fleecer Mountain pack near Anaconda.

"In situations where we've removed all wolves within an area, they have recolonized within 280 days on average," Sime said. "That basically tells us that we have the opportunity to do something better next time around," such as the use of deterrents like range riders or electrified fladry - strips of flagging that hang off an electrified fence.

Published on Thursday, March 20, 2008.
Last modified on 3/20/2008 at 12:55 am

[live to hunt]

Now if they would just kill a few hundred more they would have a good start!!!!!