“It's kind of the aligning of random events,” said Mike Thompson, wildlife manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
USDA Wildlife Services confirmed on Monday and Friday that several wolves from the Brooks Creek pack were responsible for the death of two calves on private land near Florence in the Bitterroot Valley.
The Brooks Creek pack has a den near the place where the Bitterroot landowner is calving, Thompson said.
Wildlife Services agents killed one of the wolves they believe is responsible on private land near the area where the attacks occurred. The pack now has five wolves.
North of there, another wolf attack took place.
On Thursday, the Wildlife Services confirmed that a wolf from the Superior pack killed a heifer on private land west of Superior.
The rancher released his cattle into a pasture that hadn't been used in several years, Thompson said. The wolves had since established the pasture as a rendezvous site.
Wildlife Services killed an adult male gray wolf in close proximity to the dead heifer. That pack is now estimated at six to seven wolves.
There are four wolf packs in the lower Clark Fork drainage and a fifth pack near St. Regis, Thompson said.
State law and wolf management guidelines say that wolves seen killing or threatening to kill livestock or animals used to guard or herd livestock can be killed. Wolves can also be killed if they are seen killing or attacking pets.
Though officials are never 100 percent sure they get the right wolf, typically the wolves responsible for the attacks revisit the scene of the depredation the following nights, Thompson said. That's why the state requires ranchers to report instances within 72 hours.
“Response time is so critical,” he said.
Wildlife officials will continue to monitor the property in the Bitterroot and kill problem wolves that come into the calving area, Thompson said.
One wolf in the Brooks pack is collared, he said. FWP will monitor the pack's location and attempt to distract it into higher country, as the wolves moved in that direction around this time a year ago.
At the site near Superior, officials will continue to monitor the situation, but no further action is expected, Thompson said.
The northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf was taken off the federal endangered species list in March. FWP now leads wolf conservation and management in Montana on nontribal lands.
Reporter Chelsi Moy can be reached at 523-5260 or at chelsi.moy@missoulian.com.
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