Wolves split from pack, form new pair in Eagle Cap Wilderness

By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group

Published: November 17, 2014 

Courtesy of ODFW A 72-pound female wolf of the Minam Pack is shown after being radio-collared on June 3. A member of the pack has paired up with another wolf in the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area.

The wolves have paired up in the Eagle Cap Wilderness of Eastern Oregon.

 

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife reports two wolves left their birth packs over the summer and are now paired together in the Eagle Cap Wilderness southeast of Cove.

OR-24 dispersed from the Snake River pack and OR-27 from the Minam pack sometime in July. Both animals are fitted with GPS collars, and have been located in higher elevation areas of the Keating and Catherine Creek wildlife management units in northeast Oregon.

ODFW spokeswoman Michelle Dennehy said it remains to be seen whether the animals will mate next year. A map of the pair’s territory is available online at www.dfw.state.or.us/Wolves/wolf_livestock_updates.asp.

No incidents of livestock predation are tied to either animal, though local ranchers are encouraged to adopt nonlethal measures of wolf hazing such as range riders or fladry fencing.

Meanwhile, a second suspected pack in the Catherine Creek and Keating units is no longer believed to be in the area, according to ODFW. Biologists had spotted tracks late last year from five animals near Medical Springs in Union County, but have not found any recent evidence of wolves in the area.

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