Wolves at carcasses won’t be shot by feds

Carcasses left after an illness killed cattle on a grazing allotment in Sublette County drew predators to the area, prompting federal wolf managers to work with ranchers to remove the dead animals rather than the wolves. Federal wolf workers investigated seven cattle carcasses in the Upper Green River Drainage on Aug. 1, said Mike Jimenez, Wyoming wolf recovery project leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They determined that one cow was killed by wolves, two were killed by bears, and the remaining four died of a disease called brisket, which can cause congestive heart failure in cattle when they’ve been moved to high altitudes. A week later, nine more carcasses were reported, two of which were killed by bears. The remaining cattle died from brisket. Wildlife managers can tell what kind of predator killed livestock by looking at the bite marks on the carcasses or the inside of the dead animal’s hide, Jimenez said. “Bears and wolves kill things very distinctly,” he said. “Bears tend to bite along the back; sometimes skulls are crushed.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials say they refrained from killing wolves in a nearby pack because the predators were likely attracted to the area by the carcasses. Also, wolves killed only one head of stock. “If wolves are drawn into an area by attractants, we’re not going to kill wolves until [the situation] is rectified and cleaned up,” Jimenez said...JHNewsGuide