Feds kill 7 wolves

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services, with authorization from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, took a control action against wolves in the Stanley area last week, shooting seven members of the Basin Butte pack. Todd Grimm, Wildlife Services' Western District supervisor, said the wolves were shot from a helicopter and plane on Nov. 23 and 24. The pack's home range is around Stanley, about 60 miles north of Ketchum. "Since July 2008, these wolves have been implicated in 14 incidents of depredation, all but four taking place on private land," Grimm said. Grimm said that in August the pack killed 36 sheep in two nights, and have also killed seven adult cows and five calves in the past year, most recently killing cows in October and November. "After the Nov. 3 depredation, [Wildlife Services] got together with Fish and Game and decided to significantly reduce the pack," Grimm said...read more