Friday update: Wolves kill steer near Fort Klamath

A yearling steer in the Fort Klamath area was reportedly killed and partially eaten by wolves from the Rogue Pack, according to a livestock depredation investigation by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The incident was reported July 17, when the remains of a 725-pound yearling steer were found in a private 750-acre grass pasture owned by Jim Popson. According to the official ODFW report, “portions of the left front leg and rear flank had hide and soft tissue consumed, but the carcass was otherwise intact. The yearling was estimated to have died within 18 hours of the investigation.”

During the investigation, fresh wolf tracks were present at the scene but no attack scene was found. The carcass was skinned and portions were shaved. Numerous tooth scrapes were present on the hide of both hind legs above the hocks, inner hind legs and groin, and right front leg near the elbow.

According to the finding, the “injuries are clear signs of predator attack and the size, location, and severity of the bite injuries are similar to injuries observed on other cattle attacked by wolves. This depredation is attributed to wolves of the Rogue Pack.”

“It had all the characteristics of what you’d expect from a wolf,” Mike Moore, assistant district wildlife biologist for ODFW’s Klamath Falls office, said of the remains of the steer.

He credited Fort Klamath ranchers for the prompt report, which helped in making the evaluation.

“They’ve been fantastic to work with,” he said of Wood River Valley ranchers.

Moore said ODFW is providing Fort Klamath area ranchers with cracker shells to deter wolves and said the agency is actively monitoring the pack. He noted Rogue Pack wolves are normally on the Jackson County side of the Cascades but there has been evidence, including probable wolf scat, that the pack is active in the north Wood River Valley.

Although none of wolves has a tracking monitor, Moore said his organization has “plenty of pictures of wolves out there.”

The Rogue Pack, which was initially recognized in 2014 in the southern Oregon Cascades, included OR7, who paired with a female and produced three pups that year after leaving his pack in northeastern Oregon in 2011.

The Rogue pack has since grown with new pups on an almost yearly basis and has been credited with numerous killing several cattle in northwestern Klamath County, especially near Fort Klamath, and eastern Jackson County. The pack has historically been found on Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and Fremont-Winema National Forest lands on both sides of the Cascades and adjacent private lands.

Other Oregon wolves, including several of OR7’s offspring, have been reported in far northern California. If he is still alive OR7 would now be 11 years old — old for a wolf, according to ODFW biologists. He had a monitor but it has not functioned in recent years. Because no pack member has an active collar, state and federal biologists have had to monitor the pack by trail cameras.

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Thursday story:

A yearling steer in the Fort Klamath area was reportedly killed and partially eaten by wolves from the Rogue Pack, according to a livestock depredation investigation by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The incident was reported July 17, when the remains of a 725-pound yearling steer were found in a private 750-acre grass pasture owned by Jim Popson. According to the official ODFW report, “portions of the left front leg and rear flank had hide and soft tissue consumed, but the carcass was otherwise intact. The yearling was estimated to have died within 18 hours of the investigation.”

During the investigation staff found “fresh wolf tracks were present at the scene but no attack scene was found.”

The carcass was skinned and portions were shaved. Numerous tooth scrapes were present on the hide of both hind legs above the hocks, inner hind legs and groin, and right front leg near the elbow.

According to the finding, the injuries “are clear signs of predator attack and the size, location, and severity of the bite injuries are similar to injuries observed on other cattle attacked by wolves. This depredation is attributed to wolves of the Rogue Pack.”

The Rogue Pack, which was initially recognized in 2014 in the southern Oregon Cascades, included OR-7, who paired with a female and produced three pups that year after leaving his pack in northeastern Oregon in 2011.

The pack has since grown with new pups on an almost yearly basis and has been credited with killing several cattle in northwestern Klamath County, especially near Fort Klamath, and eastern Jackson County. The pack has historically been found on Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and Fremont-Winema National Forest lands on both sides of the Cascades and adjacent private lands.

Other Oregon wolves, including several of OR-7’s offspring, have been reported in far northern California. If he is still alive OR-7 would now be 11 years old — old for a wolf, according to ODFW biologists. He had a monitor but it has not functioned in recent years. Because no pack member has an active collar, state and federal biologists have had to monitor the pack by trail cameras.

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