WDFW Will Look At Removing Another Couse Pack Wolf

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is considering additional lethal removal of wolves from the Couse pack in southeast Washington, following another confirmed livestock depredation.  WDFW said a calf was injured in the September 23rd attack.  It’s the second confirmed depredation in the pack’s territory in 30 days, and the 7th in the past ten months.

WDFW noted these actions are consistent with the Department's Wolf Conservation and Management Plan and the Wolf Livestock Interaction Protocol. 

The Department already removed an adult male wolf from the pack September 17th, after a series of livestock depredations, and then began evaluating whether pack behavior had changed.  WDFW said the impacted producers have used a host of non-lethal deterrents, including:

• Human presence and daily / near daily range riding
• Delayed turning out calves into grazing areas until they weighed more than 200 pounds
• Avoided areas with high wolf activity earlier in the grazing season when the calves were smaller
• Removed sick and injured animals from grazing areas 

Department staff will recommend next steps to Director Kelley Susewind within the next few days.

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