Published 8:30 am Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Oregon’s wolf population was unchanged in 2023 due to the killing of wolves that attacked livestock, illegal poisonings and relocations to Colorado, according to an annual report released April 12.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife listed the state’s minimum number of wolves at the end of 2023 at 178, nearly triple the population 10 years prior.
ODFW says wolves attacked calf on private land in NE Oregon
Editorial: Swiss take their wolf problem to the government’s door
Federal protection sought for wolves in lawsuit
Bentz seeks to convince nation wolves are ‘cold killers’
Inslee signs wolf bill, tips cap to Kretz
Court limits Idaho wolf trapping, snaring to protect grizzlies
Wolves were eradicated from Oregon in the early 1900s, but were reintroduced to Idaho in the mid 1990s and began recolonizing northeast Oregon in 2008.
Thirty-six wolf deaths were documented the past year, with 30 east of the Cascades, where 75% of Oregon’s wolves reside.
Sixteen wolves in five packs from the eastern half of Oregon were killed in response to chronic livestock killings. Authorities didn’t kill any wolves in western Oregon.
Wolves are protected as a special status game mammal statewide, but west of highways 395/78/95 they are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.
ODFW’s count doesn’t locate all wolves, so the actual number is higher.
The count included 22 packs of four or more wolves, 15 of which had breeding pairs with at least two pups. The number of packs and breeding pairs both declined by two in 2023. Oregon had 13 groups of two or more wolves.
Wolves continued to disperse into western Oregon, increasing their population there by 41%.
Ten wolves from eastern Oregon, or about 5.6% of the state’s population, were removed and transported to Colorado, which is reintroducing wolves.
Three of Oregon’s wolf deaths were from natural or undetermined causes.
Four wolves were killed in vehicle collisions and one wolf in Grant County was killed by a hunter in self defense.
Authorities are investigating 12 deaths, including seven wolves poisoned in eastern Oregon and one shot in Baker County.
“The amount of poaching and other suspicious deaths is alarming, impacts our conservation goals and could affect our ability to manage wolves in Oregon,” said Bernadette Graham-Hudson, ODFW wildlife division administrator, in a news release.
For example, western Oregon had four wolf pairs in 2022 and until December 2023, when three wolves were killed in Klamath County, including a breeding female from a pack.
Under the state’s wolf plan, ODFW must document four breeding pairs for three consecutive years to offer more flexibility in responding to livestock depredation. Now that timetable restarts.
Oregon had 73 confirmed livestock killings by wolves during 2023, a slight decrease from the 76 the previous year. Depredations increased east of the Cascades by 27%.
Eastern Oregon had 62 of the livestock killings.
Wolves killed 16 cows, 40 calves, eight sheep and two livestock working dogs.
Of the packs active in 2023, 55% killed livestock.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture’s compensation program awarded grants of $478,000 to 11 counties in 2023, up from $394,000 the previous year.
About 84% of funds were used for non-lethal preventive measures to reduce livestock killings.
All requests for compensation of confirmed and probable livestock killings by wolves were granted in full.
“Reducing the burden on landowners and producers remains critical for the long-term conservation of wolves in Oregon, said Roblyn Brown, ODFW wolf coordinator, in a news release.
John Williams of Enterprise, Ore., the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association wolf committee co-chairman for Eastern Oregon, said the minimum count represents a third to half of wolves in Oregon.
“What we’re seeing is a robust wolf population that’s not in danger of going anywhere,” he added.
Williams said ranchers face losses well beyond killed livestock, and the state doesn’t tally the true cost of wolves for ag operations.
There was no compensation for missing cattle this year and ranchers only find a fraction of the total number of carcasses, he said.
Production losses from lower weights and conception rates, as well as increased management costs, also aren’t factored.
In an official statement, the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association said the report shows Oregon’s gray wolf population growing, with wider distribution across the state.
ODFW’s plans to relocate 15 additional wolves to Colorado signaled the animal was thriving in Oregon, the organization added.
Angela Bailey, Oregon Farm Bureau president, said in an email that the cost of permissive management of wolves on Oregon livestock producers remains overwhelming.
“The increased activity of wolves across the state and their depredation on our livestock clearly indicates that Oregon’s wolf population numbers are much greater than the minimum wolf count numbers in the report,” she said.
“We will continue to fight for a fair and just outcome for Oregon’s livestock producers,” Bailey added.
The Center for Biological Diversity responded to the ODFW report by noting that this was the first year of zero annual growth in 16 years.
“I anticipated this dismal report given the unprecedented increase in wolf-kill orders Oregon officials issued last year in response to livestock conflicts and the accompanying surge in poaching,” said Amaroq Weiss, a senior wolf advocate for the center.
The 16 wolves killed by ODFW was twice as high as any other calendar year since 2008.
Weiss added that when states allow more legal killing of wolves, illegal killing increases, as well.
Angela Bailey, president of the Oregon Farm Bureau, released a statement on Tuesday regarding the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s annual wolf report. Here is her response to the Capital Press in full.
