The Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan and associated technical rules guide all ODFW wolf related activities. Wolves throughout Oregon are delisted from the state Endangered Species Act (ESA).
April 18, 2018
ODFW staff shot two wolves from the Pine Creek Pack (an uncollared yearling female and an uncollared adult male) this morning. The wolves were on private land and were shot from a helicopter.
Last night (evening of April 17), ODFW announced that additional lethal control of two wolves was authorized after a confirmed depredation on Sunday and two more confirmed depredations on Monday, April 16. These depredations occurred in a different area about 5-6 miles away from the April 6-7 depredations. (Reports on the Monday investigations should be posted online sometime today). The three recent depredations bring the total to five incidents of depredation by the Pine Creek Pack, killing four calves and injuring six calves and affecting two different livestock producers.
Producers in the new area have been implementing non-lethal activities including burying bone piles and removing carcasses. Ranch staff have hazed the wolves away multiple times. Ranch staff have also been patrolling cattle from before daylight until darkness daily and keeping track of the wolves’ location with ODFW assistance. Finally, ranch staff have delayed turning out cattle on large open range pastures and have moved cattle from pastures where the most recent depredations occurred.
ODFW had planned to provide the latest producer affected with a kill permit for two wolves, but as ODFW staff have already killed two wolves, no kill permit will be issued to this producer.
The Pine Creek Pack is now estimated to number five wolves including a breeding male (OR50), breeding female and three yearling wolves. One additional wolf from the pack could still be taken back at the site of the April 6-7 depredations by ODFW staff or under a kill permit that expires May 4.
April 12, 2018
Oregon home to more than 124 wolves; count finds 11% increase over last year
2017 Annual Wolf Report released today
SALEM, Ore.— ODFW wildlife biologists counted 124 wolves in Oregon this past winter, an 11 percent increase over the number counted last year.
This count is based on verified wolf evidence (like visual observations, tracks, and remote camera photographs) and is considered the minimum known wolf population, not an estimate of how many wolves are in Oregon.
Twelve wolf packs were documented at the end of 2017. Eleven packs were successful breeding pairs, meaning that at least two adults and two pups survived to the end of the year. This marks a 38 percent increase in breeding pairs from 2016.
More information about the minimum wolf count is available in Oregon’s 2017 Annual Wolf Report which was released today. ODFW staff will present an overview of the report to the Fish and Wildlife Commission at their April 20 meeting in Astoria.
Read the full news release
Update April 11, 2018
ODFW staff who were already in the area hazing wolves shot and killed an uncollared yearling female wolf of the Pine Creek Pack yesterday afternoon on the private land where previous depredations occurred. Staff shot from the ground (no aircraft were involved).
April 10, 2018
ODFW to provide kill permit after rancher loses calves to Pine Creek Wolf Pack
Incremental take of two wolves authorized
ODFW will provide a kill permit to a rancher in Baker County, after two confirmed depredations by wolves of the Pine Creek Pack in two days on private property he is leasing to graze his cows. The wolves killed three calves and injured four others.
While the producer requested full pack removal, ODFW is only authorizing the take of two wolves at this time. Under the terms of this permit, the producer can kill up to two wolves on the private property he leases where the depredations occurred, when his livestock is present on the property. The permit expires on May 4. ODFW staff are also authorized to kill the two wolves.
Under the Wolf Plan rules, livestock producers must be using non-lethal methods and document unsuccessful attempts to solve the situation through these non-lethal means before lethal control can be considered. Also, there can be no attractants on the property (such as bone piles or carcasses) that could be attracting wolves.
ODFW determined that there were no attractants on the property when it responded to a depredation report late last week. In terms of non-lethal measures, this producer was penning cattle and pairing calves and cows before turnout (keeping the mother cow with her calf can help deter depredation). This producer had delayed turning out his cattle and before he did, he and range riders watched for wolf activity but saw none. After the first report of wolves in the area chasing his cows, the producer used the range riders to check cattle and harass wolves. After the second depredation, riders hazed (shot firearms without harming wolves) to get the wolves to move. Beginning Sunday and continuing into Monday, ODFW staff have assisted in non-lethal efforts by using aircraft to haze wolves away from the pasture.
The Pine Creek is a new pack previously referred to as the OR29/OR36 pair. It was designated after ODFW’s winter counts showed it met the definition of a pack (minimum of four wolves travelling together in winter, typically a breeding male and female and offspring). It currently numbers eight wolves—a breeding male and female, five yearlings (wolves born a year ago), and one other adult wolf. The breeding female appears to be pregnant and if she is, is expected to den up in the next 1-2 weeks.
The pack’s breeding male, OR50, was formerly of the Harl Butte Pack but left that pack in October 2017 and joined OR36 in Baker County. The previous breeding male OR29 left the pack in the fall and did not return.
Removing wolves is intended to stop further depredations by the Pine Creek Pack on this producer’s cattle. Authorizing incremental take and providing a kill permit is typically the first step ODFW takes when livestock producers using non-lethal measures cannot stop losses and ODFW believes depredations will continue. In this case, collar data shows these wolves have a pattern of routinely using this property at this time of year and many producers are getting ready to place cows on the neighboring pastures soon.
March 14, 2018
Oregon State Police News Release (03/12/18)
Elgin Case Gets Guility Plea to Unlawful Taking of Wildlife
March 1, 2018 PRESS RELEASE (This release is being sent on behalf of the Union County District Attorney’s Office. Any questions should be directed to their office.)
David Sanders Jr., 58, appeared before Judge Thomas Powers in Union County Circuit Court on February 26, 2018 and plead guilty to one count of Unlawful Taking of Wildlife–Unbranded Traps (ORS 498.002, A Misdemeanor). The State dismissed one count of Unlawful Taking of Wildlife–Special Status Game Mammal in exchange for Sanders’ guilty plea and agreed upon sentence.
Judge Powers sentenced Sanders to the agreed upon negotiation between the parties of 24 months of bench probation, 100 hours of community service, a hunting/trapping license suspension of 36 months and a $7,500 fine. [ODFW note: Sanders also forfeited the firearm and all trapping related items seized during the investigation and was sentenced to a $1,000 fine in addition to the $7,500 paid in restitution to ODFW.]
The charges stemmed from an incident in which an Oregon State Police trooper discovered a trapping site off of Highway 204, west of Elgin on December 10, 2017. This location is on US Forest Service land in the Umatilla National Forest. The trooper observed and identified Sanders as the individual who had set the traps. The trooper then returned to that location on December 18, 2017 where he discovered that a deceased wolf appeared to have been shot a short distance from the unbranded traps. When officers confronted Sanders, he admitted that he had in fact shot the wolf after he had discovered the animal in his trap. Evidence collected from this incident included the firearm used to shoot the wolf and a photograph of the wolf in the trap before it was killed. Sanders was emphatic that he was attempting to trap bobcats only, not wolves. Sanders cooperated with the investigation when confronted by law enforcement. (More info)
January 31, 2018 – Oregon State Police News Release
Elgin Man Charged For Unlawful Taking Of Wolf And Unlawful Trapping – Union County – 01/31/18
On December 18, 2017, an Oregon State Police Fish & Wildlife Trooper was inspecting a trap line near Elgin, OR, when he located a deceased wolf adjacent to one of the foothold traps. Upon inspection, it was determined that the wolf had more than likely been shot after having been caught in the foothold trap.
The trooper initiated an investigation, including an x-ray examination and necropsy of the deceased wolf, which revealed a small caliber bullet retrieved from the wolf’s spinal column. Throughout the investigation, a suspect was developed and following an interview, the individual admitted to killing the wolf after finding it caught in one of his traps. The investigation also determined that the trapper was utilizing traps, which were not branded or marked with the trapper’s information, as required by law.
Following the investigation, David M SANDERS (JR), age 58, of Elgin, was cited to appear for Unlawful Taking of Wildlife –Unbranded Traps and Unlawful Taking of Wildlife — Special Status Game Animal (both misdemeanors). SANDERS was arraigned in Union County Circuit Court on January 23, 2018, where the case is still pending.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) assisted with the identification of the wolf and also collected DNA samples for further testing. According to ODFW, the wolf killed was a 63.5 pound juvenile female born in April 2017. Based on its location, ODFW believes it was the offspring of a new pair of wolves that bred this year in the Mt. Emily Wildlife Management Unit, but is awaiting DNA results to confirm this. (More information about this new pack will be available in March, when ODFW releases its annual wolf report.)
ODFW reminds all trappers to immediately contact OSP or their nearest ODFW field office if they find a wolf caught in a trap. Four wolves are known to have been inadvertently caught by licensed trappers since wolves began returning to Oregon in the late 2000s, but in all these known cases, the trapper contacted ODFW. Wildlife biologists were able to respond and then collar and safely release the wolf from the trap.
No further information to be released at this time.