Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Wolf blamed for livestock attack radio-collared

A young wolf blamed for the first documented attack on livestock since the predators started moving back into Eastern Oregon has been trapped and released with a radio collar, so that wildlife officials can keep track of it. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife trapped the wolf Sunday in the Keating Valley area of Baker County, a few miles from a ranch where a motion-detector camera captured a photo of two wolves with dead lambs at their feet last month. When biologists drove up to the trapped wolf, a second smaller wolf ran off. Department spokeswoman Michelle Dennehy said Monday in these early stages of wolves moving back into Oregon, the department will not be killing those that attack livestock, though that option remains if attacks persist. Besides allowing biologists to warn ranchers when the wolf gets near livestock, the radio collar will trigger special alarms that can be set up around herds to scare off the wolf, she said. Though two other wolves with radio collars have crossed into Oregon from Idaho, this is the first time a wolf has been trapped in Oregon and fitted with the tracking device...The Olympian

No comments: