Statement on livestock depredation by Smackout Wolf Pack
Conservation Northwest / Sep 26, 2016 / Wolves
September 28 Update: WDFW has confirmed a second calf depredation within the territory of the Smackout Wolf Pack.
We are disappointed to learn that a wolf depredation on livestock has occurred on a grazing allotment within the territory of the Smackout Wolf Pack in northeast Washington.
The depredation was confirmed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) on Friday, September 23. This is the first confirmed wolf depredation in the Smackout Pack area this calendar year.
The ranchers that operate on this and nearby allotments receive funding and other resources through our Range Rider Pilot Project. With this support from Conservation Northwest, as well as backing from WDFW, these ranchers have been conducting thorough predator conflict avoidance measures for the past five years. During that time, and likely in-part a result of this extremely diligent herd supervision, the Smackout Pack and these ranchers’ livestock have successfully shared range on the Colville National Forest with very few instances of conflict despite being in close proximity.
With the range rider seeing signs that younger adult wolves from the Smackout Pack had been testing the cows in recent weeks, the ranchers had significantly increased human presence on the grazing allotment prior to the depredation. In addition to the range rider regularly working 14 hour days, seven days a week, other family members provided more herd supervision across the grazing allotment on foot, horseback and ATV.
The range rider saw the calf and its mother during their evening rounds of the allotment before finding the calf killed the following morning. After discovering and documenting the depredation, the range rider cleaned up the site and removed the carcass. However, trail cameras deployed over the weekend showed that wolves later returned to the site.
We are monitoring this issue closely and working with WDFW and the ranchers to offer our support where it adds value in preventing additional depredations. We are hopeful that further conflict avoidance measures and the coming round-up of cows and calves for the scheduled end of the grazing season will prevent further losses and not allow depredations by the Smackout Pack to become habitual or persistent.
Range riding and other proactive measures can be very effective at deterring or reducing conflicts with wolves and other predators. This fact has been demonstrated by the minimal conflicts our Range Rider Project partners ranching in confirmed wolf territory across Eastern Washington have experienced over five years and more than twenty-five project seasons.
The ranchers involved in this case have been doing everything possible to avoid conflicts with wolves and other predators. We appreciate their diligent stewardship of their herd and of the grazing allotment on which they range.
We’re also pleased to see more ranchers and farmers in Eastern Washington successfully adopting their own range riding and other proactive conflict avoidance measures in recent years. These efforts are reducing conflicts and growing social tolerance for wolves.
Wolves belong in our state. They are a keystone predator that plays a valuable and important role in the health of our ecosystems. We strongly support wolf recovery, and value their place in our region and our environment.
However, along with our ranching partners, we understand that range riding and other nonlethal deterrence methods are not always going to be 100 percent successful. As we’ve seen previously in Washington and in other states, occasional conflicts are an expected component of a balancing act between people, livestock and predators sharing the same space. The goal of our Range Rider Pilot Project is to promote coexistence and reduce conflicts with wolves as much as possible.