Courtesy of the Stevens County Cattlemen's Association
This photo shows the bite marks on a calf found dead on the Graeber Ranch in northeastern Washington. Ranchers say the calf was killed by members of the Wedge wolf pack.
This photo shows the bite marks on a calf found dead on the Graeber Ranch in northeastern Washington. Ranchers say the calf was killed by members of the Wedge wolf pack.
The Stevens County Cattlemen's Association said the calf was killed July 22 at the Graeber ranch, near Laurier, Wash. The ranch is adjacent to the Diamond M Ranch, where a calf was reportedly killed by wolves in early July.
The area is occupied by the Wedge wolf pack. State wildlife managers killed most members of the pack last year after they had repeatedly killed cattle belonging to the Diamond M Ranch.
"The department is saying there is not enough wolf activity in the area to start live trapping or any other measures," Rancher Roy Graeber said in a press release. "In the meantime, I am out chasing after my cows all day trying to get them back where they are supposed to be."
Graeber has implemented non-lethal methods with limited success, including electric fencing with plastic ribbons tied to it around a calving pen. He said the pressure from wolves caused the trampling death of two newborn calves as mother cows in the pen were agitated.
Association president Scott Nielsen called for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to remove the rest of the wolf pack.
"They are exhibiting the same pattern of killing cattle we saw last year," Nielsen stated, noting the department said there would be a "zero-tolerance" policy for wolves eating cattle in the Wedge area.
-- Matthew Weaver
source
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