Oregon issues rancher permit to kill wolf after 3 attacks on calves in 3 days

JOSEPH, Ore. - State wildlife officials issued a permit to a rancher to kill a wolf on privately owned pasture after wolves attacked three calves there over the course of three days last week.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said its staff also have the authority to kill the wolf.

"A wolf or wolves in the Joseph Creek area in the Chesnimnus Unit injured three calves in the same privately-owned, open land pasture of the rancher’s over three separate incidents during a three-day period last week," ODFW said in a statement.

The kill permit expires July 10, when the rancher moves his cattle from the pasture.

"Under the Wolf Plan rules, livestock producers must be using non-lethal methods and document unsuccessful attempts to solve the situation through these non-lethal means before lethal control can be considered. Also, there can be no attractants on the property (such as bone piles or carcasses) that could be attracting wolves," ODFW said in a statement. "ODFW did not identify any attractants on the property when investigating the depredation incidents. In terms of non-lethals, the producer has been checking livestock repeatedly since they were placed in pasture earlier in June; maintained human presence around the cows/calves including checking them during the night; penned the cows/calves in a smaller area after the first two depredations; removed injured livestock from the pasture to avoid attracting wolves; monitored the area for wolf sign and changes in cattle behavior; and arranged for an agent to spend several nights with the cattle after the first depredations."

Sean Stevens, executive director of Oregon Wild, took issue with the kill permit.

Stevens issued a statement Thursday afternoon:

According to ODFW’s own reports, depredations appear to have stopped after nonlethal deterrents were put in place. Yet a week after the last conflict with wolves, ODFW is issuing a kill permit anyway. This permit is unnecessary. It’s the latest proof that the wolf plan needs to be strengthened, not weakened.

This sad episode highlights why ODFW has lost the trust of conservation advocates. Clearly the next iteration of the wolf plan must have stronger requirements that nonlethal be given a chance to work, and that the public be given more information, before ODFW leadership can rush to issue kill permits.

OR7 is lucky a rancher in southern Oregon was willing to let nonlethal work. Had ODFW applied this same model, they would have been shooting random wolves in the Rogue Pack earlier this year.

The pasture is in the Chesnimnus Wolves Area of Known Wolf Activity.

Biologists counted 3 wolves in the area at the end of 2017.

"As there are no working collars in this group, it is unclear if the wolves involved are new wolves using the area, or remnants of the Chesnimnus Pack," the agency said in a statement. "ODFW is working to learn more about these wolves and will place a radio collar on a wolf if there is an opportunity."

The Oregon Wolf Plan governs when wolves can be shot and killed. In April, the state killed 3 wolves in Baker County after attacks on cattle there.