WDFW Approves Removal Of Onion Creek Wolf

Due to ongoing depredation issues in Pend Oreille and Stevens counties, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has approved the lethal removal of one adult wolf from the Onion Creek wolf pack.  Just a few weeks ago, WDFW lethally removed two wolves, a yearling female and an adult male, from the Onion Creek territory.  Since August 10th, WDFW has documented four confirmed wolf depredation events resulting in four dead livestock, all attributed to the Onion Creek pack.

As a result of this latest depredation, staff recommended renewing the lethal removal authorization and WDFW Director Kelly Susewind agreed. His decision is consistent with the guidance of the State's Wolf Conservation and Management Plan and the lethal removal provisions of the Department's 2017 wolf-livestock interaction protocol (PDF).  According to the Department, the most recent authorization was issued because:  

• At least two (in this case, more than two) proactive deterrence measures and responsive deterrence measures were implemented by the affected livestock producers, prior to depredation events.
• They included daily to near-daily range riding, human presence, removing sick and injured cattle from the range, and livestock carcass sanitation.   

The Department documented these deterrents in the agency's "wolf-livestock mitigation measures" checklist, with date entries for deterrent tools and coordination with the two producers. The proactive and reactive non-lethal deterrence measures implemented by the livestock producers were best suited for their operations in the professional judgment of WDFW staff. 

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