Wolf attack confirmed in Lake County

by Stephen Floyd, Herald and News 10/6/16

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has confirmed a wolf attack took place against a calf near Summer Lake in Lake County last month.

It is believed OR-28, a 3-year-old female gray wolf, was the perpetrator of the attack, which occurred on Timber Fall Butte, west of Summer Lake.

Injured in the attack was a calf grazing as part of a herd on U.S. Forest Service land. When the owner was gathering his cattle Sept. 28, he noticed severe injuries on the calf’s rear legs and the animal was taken to a holding facility.

Upon inspection, the injuries appeared to be two-to-three weeks old and included scrapes and bite marks as well as areas of exposed tissue where the skin had been removed. Both the location of the injuries and the size of the bites and scrapes were consistent with wolf depredation and ODFW considers the incident a confirmed wolf attack.

No other incidents of wolf depredation have been reported in the area recently.

Information from the radio collar worn by OR-28 indicates she was in the area during the time of the attack, providing grounds to believe she was the wolf in question. OR-28, as well as her mate, 8-year-old OR-3, and at least one pup are part of a group called the Silver Lake Wolves with an active area stretching from Silver Lake to the Chemult area and Northern California.

In response to the confirmed depredation, ODFW is composing a conflict deterrence plan for those affected by the Silver Lake Wolves. Once completed, the plan will outline non-lethal, preventative measures livestock producers can take to avoid conflicts with wolves.

Livestock producers who wish to be notified about this and other wolf-related issues can go towww.dfw.state.or.us/Wolves/wolf_livestock_updates.asp.

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