MIKE STARK Billings Gazette | Posted: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 12:00 am
The ever-growing wolf population in the Northern Rockies last year paid a heavier price for getting into ranchers' cattle and sheep.
Government agents and ranchers legally killed a record 186 wolves in the region in response to depredations on livestock, according to recently released 2007 figures.
Despite taking out about 12 percent of the population, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that there were at least 1,513 wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming at the end of 2007, up from 1,300 at the end of 2006.
The number of wolves in the three-state area has increased every year since wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995 and 1996.
A federal proposal to remove them from the endangered species list is scheduled to go into effect March 28. Several environmental groups intend to sue.
In Montana, the numbers grew 34 percent to 422 wolves last year, according to Carolyn Sime, leader of the wolf program for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
Most of the growth was in Western Montana, especially along the Montana-Idaho border.
The addition of 19 new packs in Montana increased the odds that wolves would get into trouble.
Last year, 75 cows and 27 sheep in Montana were confirmed wolf kills. The actual number is almost certainly higher.
Three Western Montana packs - Wedge, Salish and Hewolf - were particularly busy dining on cows, accounting for 25 percent of cattle losses and 30 percent of the lethal control.
Twenty-three wolves were removed from those packs last year, part of a record number, 73, taken out in Montana in response to livestock attacks.
In Wyoming last year, 55 cows were confirmed wolf kills, down from a high of 123 in 2006, and 16 sheep were killed. In response, 63 wolves were taken out, leaving 359 in the state including those living in Yellowstone.
In Idaho, at least 53 cows and 170 sheep were killed by wolves. Fifty wolves were removed and 732 were estimated to be living in that state at year's end.
Sheep are still far more likely to die in Montana from attacks by coyotes and foxes along with bouts of disease, bad weather or poison, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics.
Still, wolves are among the most controversial predators in the three states.
Later this month, when the delisting rule takes effect, wildlife agencies in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming are poised to take over full management.
Lawsuits from environmental groups, which have already provided official notification that they plan to sue, could complicate matters, leaving open the possibility that wolves may remain federally protected until the issue is resolved in court.
"We'll be ready for whatever happens," Sime said.