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of ODF OR-25, a yearling male in the Imnaha Pack, is
shown after being radio-collared on May 20, 2014. It
has split from that pack and is now in Klamath
County, where it recently attacked three calves,
killing one.
The attacks are the first outside of Northeast Oregon, where
the vast majority of the state's wolves roam.
A calf was killed and eaten in Klamath County and two
others were badly mauled in the first confirmed wolf attacks
on livestock outside Northeast Oregon
Tracking collar data showed a wolf designated OR-25 was
at the attack site five times between Oct. 28 and Nov. 2.
The calves were attacked in a 100-acre pasture on private
land in the upper Williamson River area, according to Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife.
.
OR-25 is a male wolf that dispersed from the Imnaha Pack and
traveled through the Columbia Basin, Southern Blue Mountains and
Northern and Central Cascades. He’s been in the Sprague wildlife
management area of Klamath County since May, according to ODFW.
In August, the department designated the region an Area of Known
Wolf Activity and encouraged livestock owners to take defensive
measures, part of the process required under the Oregon wolf
plan. The wolf wears a GPS tracking collar that emits a location
signal to a computer at regular intervals.
The livestock attack comes as the ODFW Commission is set to
decide Nov. 9 whether to remove gray wolves from the state
endangered species list.
The wolf and the Klamath County attack site are physically
outside the state endangered species jurisdiction, but the
de-listing decision is expected to attract a large crowd and
emotional, conflicting testimony. The attack may be seen as
additional evidence wolves are expanding in numbers and range,
as state wildlife biologists said when they recommended wolves
be removed from the state endangered species list.
State Endangered Species Act protection applies to wolves east
of Oregon Highways 395, 78 and 95, roughly the eastern one-third
of the state. Federal ESA jurisdiction covers the rest of the
state west of the highways.
Investigation of the Klamath County attacks began when an
unidentified livestock producer reported finding an injured
350-pound heifer in the pasture Oct. 31, the carcass of a dead
calf Nov. 1 and another injured calf Nov. 2. The injured calves
had severe bite wounds and “massive tissue damage” to their hind
legs, according to an ODFW report.
Of the carcass, “very little remained of the dead calf for
examination,” ODFW reported. The department confirmed a wolf was
responsible for all three.
OR-25 is believed to be alone. The department has no evidence he
has a mate or pups, said Michelle Dennehy, ODFW spokeswoman.
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