Investigators looking into wolf killing
King 5 News reports on the poaching of wolves in north-central Washington.
NEAR TWISP, Wash. -- State and federal Investigators are building a case against an Okanogan County rancher accused of shooting a young wolf less than a year after a pack was reestablished in Washington state.
Motion control cameras mounted in the woods captured some of the first pictures of the eight member Okanogan County wolf pack last summer.
Sometime between then and when KING 5 News got distant video of one of the wolves during a search for them last month, one of the wolves was killed.
Strangely enough, this case started with a package taken to a FedEx mailing center in Omak. Workers noticed blood was coming from the package, so they called wildlife investigators who opened to find a freshly skinned wolf pelt.
Investigators say evidence pointed them to a local rancher. Court documents indicate the rancher admitted under questioning that he shot the wolf, claiming he found it entangled in a fence.
Investigators in the documents state evidence leads them to believe the wolf was first trapped, then shot.
Biologists tracking the Okanogan wolves believe they made their way to Washington state to become the first wolf pack established here since they were hunted to extinction in the state in the 1940s.
Gray wolves are protected species under both federal and state law.
Some ranchers, hunters and others in neighboring states have long complained about the reintroduction of wolves and how they threaten livestock as well as elk and deer herds.
"Regardless of how you feel about the presence of wolves in this state, individuals can't take it upon themselves to independently decide how to manage wildlife populations,” said Deputy Chief Mike Cenci, Washington Fish and Wildlife Department.
There have been no confirmed reports of the Washington state wolves attacking livestock.
Nobody has been charged in the case so KING 5 is not releasing the name of the suspect. The federal case may go to a grand jury to see if there will be charges brought.
