UPDATE--8/03/2004

Curt Mack is responsible for the death of another wolf! Here is information. Contact him now opposing what he is doing before more wolves are killed!

Gray wolf killed in Idaho

Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Federal wildlife officials killed one gray wolf Friday and may take up to two more animals from the Hazard Lake pack in the backcountry north of McCall, authorities said. The male adult was trapped and killed Friday, a week after authorities exterminated the largest wolf pack in Idaho a few miles to the west. The Hazard Lake pack, which had seven wolves but now has six, is believed to be responsible for the killing of several domestic sheep and leaving dozens of others injured or missing.

A guard dog was also injured and another is missing from the attack Thursday morning, said Jeff Foss, field supervisor for the Snake River Fish and Wildlife Office. The animals belonged to the same rancher who lost more than 100 sheep during previous weeks to the Cook pack. All nine wolves of that pack were also killed. The agency may kill two more members of the Hazard pack, five of which wear radio collars. Government trackers have already placed traps in the area, Foss said. However, if the pack's top female wolf is caught, she will be released to take care of any offspring.

Thirty-five Canadian wolves were released in the central Idaho wilderness in 1995 and 1996 as part of the program to reintroduce wolves in the Northern Rockies. The population has grown to an estimated 400, a large enough number to justify removing them from protection under the Endangered Species Act. To do that, however, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming must all develop federally acceptable state wolf management plans. While the Idaho and Montana plans have been approved, the government has rejected the Wyoming plan and that state has gone to federal court to override the administrative ruling.

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/07/31/build/ wyoming/60-wolf.inc

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PAST UPDATE

Curt Mack of the Nez Perce Tribe is also involved. They both need to be heard from you about how this way of dealing with wolves is wrong! Email him at cmack@nezperce.org

Federal agents kill wolf pack north of McCall Since June 1, nine wolves had killed 100 sheep

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Pete Zimowsky

The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 07-23-2004 Federal authorities killed an entire pack of nine wolves Tuesday after the wolves killed about 100 sheep this summer in an area less than 20 miles north of McCall.

Two other wolf packs are roaming the area and some of the pack members may be killed if they continue targeting livestock.

The area is prime wolf habitat and grazing land. About 16,000 sheep share public land with 23 wolves. Before Tuesday, 32 wolves roamed the area.

More than 100 sheep have been killed this year in the vicinity of Granite Lake, a recreation area. The killings are blamed mostly on the Cook pack. The area is recovering after forest fires years ago, and new grasses and shrubs tempt elk into the region and the elk tempt the wolves.

"This is the worst situation in the state by far," said Curt Mack, gray wolf recovery coordinator for the Nez Perce tribe. "It's good sheep country and wolf country."

The deaths of the sheep and wolves signify the collision between grazing and wolf reintroduction efforts in Idaho. The wolves in the Cook pack killed 90 sheep last summer in the same area. Ranchers are reimbursed for the sheep.

The Cook pack killing offers immediate relief to the livestock owners with animals in the area, but it is not a long-term solution, Mack said Thursday from his office in McCall. "Even if we take out all three wolf packs, other wolves will find the area. The frustration is that we are looking at a cycle of losing livestock and removing wolves."

Guard dogs, cracker shells, sirens, lights and live fire from shotguns did not deter the Cook pack.

The sheep killings started this year on June 1 and continued through Saturday. The sheep were killed on state land and national forest land.

About 70 were killed in one night on June 29, said Carter Nienmeyer, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who authorized the elimination of the pack.

"We had to be very aggressive in dealing with it. We won't tolerate wolves that are confirmed to be chronically killing livestock."

On Tuesday, authorities with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services agency killed all nine members of the pack from a helicopter near Brush Creek and Pearl Lake. A 10-gauge shotgun loaded with 3 1/2-inch magnum shells with BBs or buckshot is used to killed wolves. No pups were spotted with the pack.

Federal agencies would not confirm the names of the ranchers involved.

"If they are serious sheep killers, we will take out one or a few at a time. If they persist, it is possible to remove the entire pack."

The uncollared animals will go first, he said. Biologists use the collared wolves to track the packs.

The Idaho Conservation League, a group that works to protect Idaho's water and wildlife, said in a news release, "Although this is an unfortunate incident for all concerned, this action demonstrates that the wolf management program is working as intended."

The organization's statement said the fact that the rancher, Nez Perce Tribe and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had tried other options first and used lethal measures only as a last resort proves that the wolf management program is a success.

"The ranchers and their families were sleeping with the bands of sheep. They did all kinds of stuff to keep them (wolves) away," said Mark Collinge, state director of USDA Wildlife Services.

The Nez Perce tribe will continue to look for nonlethal methods of keeping wolves away from livestock. Guard dogs, more of a human presence around bands of sheep, electric night fences around bedded-down sheep, rubber bullets, and cracker shells shot from shotguns at wolves are some of the methods being used.

Defenders of Wildlife, a group dedicated to protecting native wild animals, will reimburse the livestock company for its lost sheep. Ranchers are paid full fall market value for sheep. Last summer, a livestock company was paid $8,000 for 72 sheep killed by wolves in the Riggins area, said Nina Fascione, vice president of field conservation programs for Defenders of Wildlife in Washington, D.C.

The Nez Perce Tribe has not recovered the carcasses of the dead wolves. If wolves are killed in winter, tribe members recover the pelts because pelts are in good condition. The tribe uses the pelts and skulls for educational presentations.

Pelts are not in good condition in the summer, Mack said, but he speculated that the skulls of the animals may be collected.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2004407230336

Carter Niemeyer, the coordinator of the Gray Wolf 'Recovery' Program, has just mass murdered the largest pack in the State of Idaho. He needs to be contacted immediately. This and other atrocities like it cannot be justified. The program up there has outdated non lethal methods, and will not use Predator Friendly Ranching.

Please contact him now. His email address is carter_niemeyer@fws.gov

For information on Predator Friendly Ranching Practices, consult my website. http://freelancewolfactivst.tripod.com/factsheet.html

Thank you.

Mike

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Wolf pack near McCall, Idaho killed on government orders 06:20 PM MDT on Thursday, July 22, 2004 Associated Press

BOISE -- The largest wolf pack in the state is dead after the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service was given orders to kill them. KTVB A wolf pack that has been killing sheep near McCall has been shot to death by wildlife agents. The nine-wolf Cook pack near McCall was preying on domestic sheep grazing on state and federal land in the area. Authorities say the pack killed more than 100 sheep belonging to one rancher. Wildlife Services agents shot and killed the wolves after attempts at hazing them away from the sheep failed. Sheep herders tried to prevent the attacks by camping with the sheep and using cracker shells, sirens, lights and other methods, but nothing worked. Two other packs in the area, the Partridge Pack and the Hazard Pack, are also believed to be killing sheep. Those packs may also be killed. There are an estimated 37 packs in Idaho.

http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-july2204-wolf_pack_killed.164d 5c6.html

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