Wolves in the American northwest have faced a rough history as their natural instincts clashed with the life blood of human settlers. Today, those struggles are very much the same.
After years of working to restore wolf populations throughout much of the pacific northwest, recent wolf attacks in Oregon and Montana show there are still conflicts.
Three attacks on livestock in Oregon prompted the livestock owner, who was not named in reports, to request lethal action. But the state does not always take lethal action, even in cases where up to five cattle were killed, reports the Statesman Journal.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife last took lethal action against wolves in 2011. The state wildlife department would rather settle cases through a cattle buy-back program in the name of preserving the wolf population. In some places, ranchers are saying, “enough is enough.”
In Montana, after two yierlings were killed by a suspected pair of wolves, wildlife officials set snare traps with the goal being to trap and euthanize the wolves. Officials have apparently dealt with this wolf pack before and even removed two from the group last year.
“At this point, they all need to be removed,” John Steuber, state director of Montana Wildlife Services, told the Billings Gazette.
For an in-depth look at the Oregon wolf situation view this 3-part series by the Statesman Journal.
