Washington killed two wolves in June after an influx of range-riders couldn’t stop the Togo pack from attacking more calves, according to Fish and Wildlife reports released June 29.

Adding more state-funded range-riders from two organizations was a last-stand tactic to discourage a pack with a long history of preying on cattle in Ferry County.

Fish and Wildlife employees in May agreed that wolves likely would attack more calves, but disagreed on whether to cull the pack. Instead, the department deployed more range-riders.

When wolves mauled two calves in June, Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind approved a recommendation from Regional Director Steve Pozzanghera to remove up to two wolves.

“Unfortunately, even with these additional reactive non-lethal deterrence measures, these latest depredations have occurred,” Pozzanghera told Susewind in an email June 13.

By the end of the week, the department had removed two of the pack’s seven adults. The pack has an unknown number of pups.

Fish and Wildlife released the reports in response to a records request from the Capital Press. The reports provide details on the department’s thinking in May and June as the Togo pack renewed its attacks on cattle.

Department staff initially met May 23 to discuss whether to shoot a wolf or two to teach the others to stay away from cattle.

The pack’s size was a concern for wildlife managers. It had grown from three wolves in 2021 to seven wolves in 2022 and needed more protein.

Besides killing or injuring calves, the pack was causing other problems for ranchers. Wolves chased an entire pasture of cattle through a barbed-wire fence.

The department’s report notes that three ranchers in the Togo pack territory were trying to prevent the attacks.

Ranchers tried flashing lights, motion-activated alarms and electronic ear tags to keep track of cattle. Brush ripped off most ear tags and damaged cattle’s ears, one rancher reported.

Fish and Wildlife set out to shoot at least one Togo pack wolf last summer. It failed, but the pack moved away from cattle, according to the department.

Once the attacks started again in May, some Fish and Wildlife staff argued that unless the department acted quickly, predations would escalate to the point where all seven wolves would have to be killed.

Other staff, however, wanted to try more range-riders and see if the attacks were reduced.

Some also discounted a rancher’s contribution to protecting his cattle because he didn’t report the exact times and locations of his movements in pastures, as is required of state-paid range-riders.

Without a staff consensus on using lethal control, Pozzanghera recommended holding off on shooting wolves. Susewind agreed.

Fish and Wildlife added flashing lights to a pasture and adjusted a radio collar on one wolf to get more signals each day on the pack’s whereabouts.

But the focus was on range-riding, the department’s No. 1 non-lethal deterrent.

In coordination with Fish and Wildlife, the Cattle Producers of Washington added a full-time range-rider to the half-time range-rider it had in the area in May.

The Northeast Washington Wolf-Cattle Collaborative added a full-time and second half-time range-riders to the area.

Range-riders shifted their schedules because wolf activity increased in the late mornings and afternoons.

Range-riders checked pastures for a total of 11 hours on the day the Togo pack killed a calf June 8. The department staff reconvened to again consider lethal control.

Some employees said more range-riders would help. The report concluded, however, there are only so many range-riders.

“It is not possible to place more within this territory without decreasing coverage within adjacent wolf pack territories,” according to the report.