In this hunt, the humans had all the advantages. One of the wolves had been radio collared, allowing the pair to be tracked by airplane. Some time Saturday morning, officials with the USDA Wildlife services were in the right place, at the right time, and took the shots that brought down the two wolves.

The radio collared wolf, shortly after being released this May by wildlife officials. Courtesy ODFW.

As sad as the news may be, it’s worth noting that ODFW didn’t authorize the shootings until after the pair attacked two Baker County ranches a total of five times, killing 29 livestock. The ranchers worked throughout the spring and summer with state and federal wildlife officials, plus Defenders of Wildlife, on non-lethal methods to keep the wolves away.

Knowing that state officials are willing to kill so-called “problem wolves” may help Oregon’s Wolf Management Plan gain wider acceptance among ranchers and other rural residents of the state. It provides a good argument against giving ranchers more authority to shoot wolves on their property, or to hunt them down once the wolves have gone away. If ODFW will step up and take care of wolves involved in multiple attacks on livestock, then hopefully ranchers will feel better about tolerating the return of these predators to Oregon.

In its press release, ODFW says the two wolves were yearlings and never bred. They were on their own at a young age, and lacking the skills to hunt their wild prey, turned to killing livestock instead.

However, not all the wolf news from this weekend is grim. ODFW says this summer a pack of wolves, with two pups, was spotted in Wallowa County. It’s the second confirmed case of successful wolf reproduction in Oregon since the 1940′s. In 2008, ODFW agents made audio contact with another pack of two adults and at least two cubs, during a howling survey in Union County.

The wolves made big news this spring when they attacked and killed dozens of sheep and other livestock at two ranches in Baker County.  One of the wolves was eventually trapped and ODFW officials attached a radio collar so they could track the pair as it moved in and out of the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

The captured wolf, with ODFW Wolf Coordinator Russ Morgan. Courtesy ODFW.

But after months laying low, the wolves returned last week to the ranch of Curt Jacobs, killing several more sheep and a pet goat.  Jacobs tells the Baker City Herald the wolves have killed almost 30 livestock in five separate attacks.

Oregon Wild issued a statement saying it was “saddened” by ODFW’s decision to kill the wolves.  The group reminds us that gray wolves are just starting to get a foothold in Oregon.  There’s probably less than ten of them in the state.  Taking out these two, Oregon Wild says, is a “significant percentage” of the wolf population in the state.

April 13 at the Curt Jacobs ranch. Courtesy US Fish and Wildlife/Oregon Fish and Wildlife

Also interesting, the group doesn’t criticize ODFW for issuing the kill order.  It notes that the Oregon Wolf Managment plan allows the killing of wolves that repeatedly attack livestock.  The group says ODFW and local ranchers tried non-lethal methods first.  But most important of all, Oregon Wild says this is a sign that Oregon’s wolf plan is working, that the state will act against problem wolves and that ranchers don’t need any additional authority to hunt them on their own.

According the Oregonian, the Center for Biological Diversity which is based in Arizona, has asked ODFW to rescind the order.

When issuing the order, ODFW gave rancher Jacobs the permission to shoot the wolves if he catches them in the act of attacking his livestock.  It also gave a kill license to predator control agents with the U.S. Agriculture Deparment.  The Baker City Herald says wildlife officials are tracking the wolves via airplane and plan to kill both members of the pair.

Rocky Mountain Gray Wolves were removed from the Endangered Species list during the Bush Administration, a decision that was affirmed after President Obama took office.  That has little impact in Oregon because they remain listed under state law and gray wolves have protections that are similar to what they had under federal law.

They believe this is one of the wolves that attacked two ranches in the Keating Valley in Baker County last month. 24 lambs and ewes, and a calf, were killed in the attacks.

The capture is the result of a joint effort by U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Oregon Fish and Wildlife.

The wolf after being released. Courtesy ODFW.

Officials say the wolf is an 87-pound male, about two years old. It was found Sunday morning in a foot hold trap that’s designed to capture, but not hurt the animals. The also took tissue samples for genetic analysis. The capture site is about 2.5 miles away from where the calf was killed. ODFW says a second, smaller wolf was seen near the trap, and they believe it’s a female.

The captured wolf, with ODFW Wolf Coordinator Russ Morgan. Courtesy Oregon Fish and Wildlife.

Wildlife officials are hoping that with the radio collar, the wolves will not pose as a great a danger to livestock. The collar will help them keep track of the wolf and if it returns to areas near farms and ranches, wildlife officials can warn residents. If both wolves continue to travel as a pair, then the one collar helps them track both wolves.

It also gives ranchers the option of using RAG (radio activated guard) boxes to protect their livestock. The boxes emit a loud noise when a radio-collared wolf approaches.

The animal was captured a day before the Rocky Mountain Gray Wolf came off the federal endangered species list. Several environmental groups have said they will fight the delisting in court, and have 30-days to take action.

In Oregon, federal delisting has little impact. The Gray Wolf is on the state’s endangered species list and has protections that are similar to the federal regulations.

CORRECTION: In a story we published Friday, we reported there was a fourth wolf attack in Baker County last week. That information was wrong. ODFW says today that it can’t confirm wolves took part in the incident involving four horses.

The brought their case to the House Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Rural Communities Committee. The hearing was for information only. A bill that would have given ranchers the authority they want, House Bill 3383, is dead for the session.

Photo of the second kill at the Jacobs ranch. From US Fish and Wildlife/Oregon Fish and Wildlife.

Showing gruesome photos of the attacks at his sheep ranch, Curt Jacobs of Baker County talked about the two nights over Easter weekend when a pair of wolves attacked and killed 24 of his lambs and ewes. He says he’s still paying hundreds of dollar to take care of the surviving animals and estimates the compensation he’s receiving from Defenders of Wildlife covers about half his costs.

Jacobs worries that techniques to prevent attacks will eventually stop working. Jacobs has installed fladry at his ranch, a type of fencing with flags that has shown some success in other areas. But he thinks wolves will become familiar with the methods and they’ll no longer be effective. “This is new to me,” he says, “We know what to do with coyotes, we know what to do with cougars, but these are wolves and it’s a new deal.”

The main argument was that ranchers need to be able to protect their property.  Representative Cliff Bentz, who sponsored HB 3383, compared ranchers’ frustrations to people who are angry over LNG pipelines crossing their property.  He says both groups feel powerless.  “To sit back and watch a protected species kill livestock, it’s really a difficult thing.”

Some members of the committee complained bitterly that urban Oregonians don’t understand the problems facing ranchers and farmers.  They sarcastically suggested releasing bears and wolves in downtown Portland just to see how people would react.

But despite the comments from politicians and lobbyists, the voices of moderation in the room were the ranchers.

Tik Moore, who lost a calf to wolves about a week after the attacks at Jacobs ranch, says the attitude that the only good wolf is a dead wolf, “Doesn’t work any more.”  But he also adds, “We need the tools to manage the wolves so I can protect what I have and the wolves can exist.”

What environmental groups have to say.

Sean Stevens of Oregon Wild says his group isn’t completely opposed to letting ranchers shoot wolves in the act of attacking livestock, but thinks allowing it now is too soon.  He wants to give the wolves more time to recover.  “Right now is not the time as wolves are just returning.”

Stevens says the way the wolf kills have been handled so far shows that Oregon’s Wolf Management plan is working.  “To throw our hands up to say we need something new, seems a bit rash.”

Oregon Wild released a fact sheet about wolves on it’s website earlier this week.  Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf? goes into detail about some of the misconceptions about wolves, many of which came up during the hearing.

Rocky Mountain Gray Wolves are scheduled to come off the Endangered Species List on Monday.  That includes wolves in Eastern Oregon.  If that happens, the wolves remain listed as an endangered species under Oregon law.  In 2005, Oregon Fish and Wildlife released its Wolf Management Plan which gradually lifts restrictions on shooting wolves as the species makes a comeback.  But many parts of the plan have never been written into law.

There’s been no sign of the wolves since the last attack a week ago that killed a calf.  After three aerial searches that found nothing, and traps that were empty, officials decided to give it a rest.  Phil Carroll of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says some bait was left behind, and it will be checked to see if the wolves return.  If they do, then the search can resume.

April 13 surveillance photo. Courtesy US Fish and Wildlife and Oregon Fish and Wildlife.

Carroll says the experts Fish and Wildlife has consulted with now think the two wolves seen in the surveillance photos are young, about a year old.  In wolf terms, that makes them teenagers.  He says it’s not surprising that they’ve disappeared and impossible to predict if they’ll return.  Carroll says they may be traveling far and wide and compares the situation to giving “teenagers the keys to dad’s car and his credit card.”

He also speculates the wolves were interested in the livestock because of a shortage of their natural prey.  It’s too early in the year to have many fawns and elks calves to eat.  So from the wolf’s perspective, says Carroll, they may have gone after the livestock, “to see what they tasted like.”

The killings at two ranches started April 9th at a sheep ranch near Keating, Ore.  The wolves returned a few days later and in total killed 24 sheep, mostly lambs.  Then on April 17, a wolf or wolves attacked a calf at a second ranch in the same area.

Ranchers and farmers in Eastern Oregon were hoping the attacks would renew interest in House Bill 3383, which would allow them to shoot wolves caught in the act of going after livestock.  But that legislation appears dead for this session.

See: Wolf Politics In Oregon.

House Bill 3383 would have allowed ranchers and farmers to shoot wolves caught in the act of attacking their livestock. But it missed an important April 17 deadline to be put on the schedule for a hearing. The Oregon Cattlemen’s Association says it was told by House Ag Chairman Brian Clem that his schedule was too busy to include the wolf bill.

The Baker City Herald meanwhile, says bill sponsor Rep. Cliff Bentz is hoping the issue will come up again during a possible February special session.

The bill would have also allowed ranchers and farmers to track and hunt wolves that had attacked their livestock, but only after getting a permit from Oregon Fish and Wildlife.

Surveillance photo taken April 13. Courtesy US Fish and Wildlife and Oregon Fish and Wildlife.

Meanwhile, the search for wolves that attacked two ranches in Baker County has come up empty. Michelle Dennehy with ODFW says there’s been no signs of the wolves since a calf was killed about a week ago. She says it’s quite possible they’ve moved out of the area. During the first two attacks at another ranch, 24 lambs and ewes were killed. Both locations are in the Keating Valley and only a few miles apart.

The calf that was attacked last week has died.  Phil Carroll of U.S. Fish and Wildlife says they’ve examined the body and have found wound marks that are consistent with a wolf attack.  That information plus the tracks found at the site adds to the evidence that a wolf, or wolves, are to blame.

Over the weekend, wildlife officials checked the traps that were put out to capture the wolves, but the traps were empty.  They’re going out again this morning.

A series of wolf attacks started April 9 in the Keating Valley northeast of Baker City.  The first two attacks took place at a sheep ranch owned by Curt Jacobs.  He lost two dozen animals, mostly lambs.  Tracks and photographs show at least two wolves took park.  The third attack, the one involving the calf, happened late last week a few miles away.

These are the first known wolf attacks in Oregon in six decades.  The species was wiped out in the state during the 1940s and didn’t return until 1999.

When we last checked with wildlife officials, they still hadn’t found the wolf, or wolves, they think attacked a calf in Baker County overnight. The weather in the area was good today and officials searched for the predators by air, but saw nothing. At last word, the calf survived the attack.

While it’s not 100% certain wolves are responsible for this new incident, they say tracks found at the site are very similar to tracks found at the ranch where the two first two attacks took place.

Surveillance Photo Courtesy US Fish and Wildlife and Oregon Fish and Wildlife.

If this is confirmed as a wolf attack, it would be the third one in a week. The first two took place April 10 and 13 at a sheep ranch in Baker County. The two locations are only a few miles apart. Wolves were exterminated from Oregon in the 1940′s and didn’t return until 1999.

Today’s Baker City Herald reports that another sheep has died from the ranch kills. Rancher Curt Jacobs is quoted as saying he’s now lost 24 lambs and ewes.

The paper says members of the Farm Bureau and the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association have offered to pay Jacob’s expenses so he can tell his story of the kills to lawmakers. Farmers and ranchers are hoping the series of attacks will persuade the legislature to pass House Bill 3383 which allows them to shoot wolves in the act of attacking livestock.

Recent news:

Video Released From Wolf Kill, As Ranchers Get Angry

Here’s a little bit of new information from U.S. Fish and Wildlife.  The new attack took place about a mile away from the sheep ranch.  They believe the calf was out in the pasture, not penned in and close to buildings like the sheep that were killed.  It’s unclear how many predators were involved, but the tracks found at the site were “consistent” with the tracks found at the sheep ranch.

10:52am

We just got off the phone with Michelle Dennehy of ODFW about a new possible wolf attack in Baker County.

Here’s what we know so far. The attack took place not far from the ranch where 23 sheep and lambs were killed by wolves in the past week.

It appears just one animal was attacked, a calf, which so far has survived.

Wildlife officials spotted tracks which appear to be about the same size of tracks found at the earlier attacks. They are trying to capture the animal.

The information is subject to the usual rules of breaking news, meaning we don’t have much to work with right now and it’s quite possible that as more comes in, the details will change.

Recent stories:

Video Released From Wolf Kill, As Ranchers Get Angry

Wolf Kill Update: Traps To Capture Wolves Are Empty

As today’s article in the Baker City Herald makes clear, ranchers are particularly upset because the kills took place inside pens near a home and barn. They’re calling them “rogue wolves” that must be taken out. The ranchers also want state laws changed so they can shoot wolves in the act of attacking livestock.

But over the past couple days environmentalists have defended the wolf’s status as an endangered species. Suzanne Stone of Defenders of Wildlife told us wolf kills only account for about 1% of annual livestock losses. She says farmer and ranchers lose far more livestock to natural deaths, coyotes, cougars, bears and domestic dogs. For Greg Dyson with the Hells Canyon Preservation Council, the quick reaction by wildlife officials to prevent further attacks is proof that Oregon’s Wolf Management plan is working as it should.

Also late today, Oregon Fish and Wildlife released this short video of the wolves that was taken early Monday morning.