From the pages of
Sublette Examiner
Volume 6, Number 3 - April 13, 2006
brought to you online by Pinedale Online

Wolves killing cattle

by Cat Urbigkit

It’s calving season in Sublette County, so ranchers have their hands full. Now a few more ranches have another problem to deal with: wolves preying on their cattle.

Mike Jimenez of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed in an interview Tuesday that wolves had hit a ranch southeast of Boulder two nights in a row this week, killing a calf a night. USDA Wildlife Services specialists confirmed that wolves had killed the calves.

“They think there were two wolves involved,” Jimenez said. Wildlife Services has been authorized “to go after both of them.”

Wolves also hit a ranch west of Big Piney, killing a beef cow. Evidence on the scene indicated the cow had struggled with the wolves, but lost the battle. Wolves had eaten on the carcass, which was confirmed as a wolf kill on Monday. Wildlife Services stayed near the carcass Monday night in case the wolves returned to feed, but they did not come to the carcass.

“We’ll wait to see if anything else happens, then we’ll respond,” Jimenez said.

Jimenez said it’s believed that two wolves were involved in the cow-killing, “but it’s really hard to tell. We couldn’t come up with adefinitive number.”

So far this year, six wolves have been killed in Sublette County due to chronic livestock depredations. The six wolves were all involved in killing cattle on private property near Cora.

See The Archives for past articles.


Copyright © 2002-2006 Sublette Examiner
All rights reserved. Reproduction by any means must have permission of the Publisher.
Sublette Examiner, PO Box 1539, Pinedale, WY 82941   Phone 307-367-3203
examiner@wyoming.com