Five wolf pups from the Imnaha pack were photographed by a
remote camera on July 7, 2013. The pups were approximately 2.5 months
old in this photo.
(Courtesy of ODFW)
By
Rob Davis | on June 04, 2014
The wolves howling in Wallowa County just before midnight on May 29 brought trouble.
A sheepherder's warning shots, fired from a .22, didn't keep them away. Nor did three Pyrenees guard dogs.
The attack on private land on the Zumwalt Prairie northeast of Enterprise,
confirmed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, killed three lambs and injured 20 sheep.
The location and appearance of bite wounds appeared to be from wolves, the agency said.
Though the attack is within the area of the Imnaha Pack, an ODFW
spokeswoman said the department isn't certain whether the pack is
involved. It could take several days to reach any conclusions, said the
spokeswoman, Michelle Dennehy.
That pack already has one confirmed attack this year,
a Jan. 30 incident that killed one sheep.
The January incident was a formal strike under Oregon law for the
Imnaha Pack. Under the terms of a 2013 settlement between ranchers,
environmental groups and the state, once a pack has four strikes in a
six-month period, the state can kill the wolves involved. The January
attack expires as a qualifying incident on June 30.
Lethal control hasn't yet been used against wolves under that
agreement. The Snake River wolf pack came within one strike of lethal
control in 2013.
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