STATE
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
A15
Oregon wolf population growth slows; mortalities rise
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
SALEM — Oregon’s
wolf population increased
by just two individuals in
2021, according to the state
Department of Fish and
Wildlife, while the number
of wolf deaths was the high-
est yet in a single year.
ODFW released its
annual wolf report on
April 19, documenting 175
wolves compared to 173 in
2020. The count is a mini-
mum estimate based on ver-
ifi ed evidence, such as wolf
sightings, tracks and remote
camera photographs.
A total of 26 wolves died
in 2021, including 21 killed
by humans. Of those, four
were hit by vehicles, eight
were illegally poisoned,
one was legally shot by a
rancher on private prop-
erty and another eight were
killed by ODFW after habit-
ually preying on livestock.
Roblyn Brown, ODFW
wolf program coordinator,
said last year’s rise in mor-
talities “certainly played a
role” in the latest population
survey remaining mostly
fl at.
“Despite this, we are
confi dent in the continued
health of the state’s wolf
population as they expand
in distribution across the
state and show a strong
upward population trend,”
Brown said in a statement.
Environmental groups
argued the report shows
Oregon’s wolf population
is in crisis due to poaching
and other human-caused
mortality.
Danielle Moser, wild-
life program coordinator
for Oregon Wild, said the
deaths reported by ODFW
are “only known mortali-
ties and there are certainly
many more unaccounted
for deaths and poaching of
uncollared wolves.”
Zoe Hanley, Northwest
representative for Defend-
ers of Wildlife, said the
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife/Contributed Photo, File
About 175 wolves live in Oregon, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife says.
group is concerned Ore-
gon’s wolf recovery is
not adequately addressing
threats like poaching.
“This year’s report is a
call to action for agencies
like (ODFW) and Oregon
State Police to recognize the
severity of poaching inci-
dents and take additional
steps to protect Oregon’s
vulnerable wolves,” Han-
ley said.
John Williams, wolf
committee co-chairman for
the Oregon Cattlemen’s
Association based in Enter-
prise, said he was surprised
by the wolf population
being mostly unchanged,
considering ranchers are
seeing wolves in areas
where they’ve never seen
them before.
“We know their areas are
expanding. We know the
numbers are expanding,”
Williams said.
Most wolves in Oregon
inhabit the far northeast cor-
ner of the state, though they
are branching into new ter-
ritory. ODFW established
four new areas of resident
wolf activity in 2021, cov-
ering parts of Grant, Jef-
ferson, Klamath and Union
counties.
The state now has 21
known wolf packs — 16 of
which qualify as breeding
pairs — in addition to eight
other groups of two or three
wolves.
Wolves also contin-
ued to prey on livestock in
2021. ODFW confi rmed
49 cases of wolf depreda-
tion, up from 31 in 2020. In
all, wolves killed or injured
95 animals, including six
cows, 44 calves, 17 ewes,
11 lambs, 14 goats and three
guard dogs.
The vast majority, 92%,
of
those
depredations
occurred between July and
November, with 86% on
private land and 14% on
public land.
Williams said wolves
are becoming an increas-
ing problem for ranchers
across the state, with the
impacts extending beyond
killed or injured livestock
to lower birth rates for cows
and lower birth weights for
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calves. He urged the state
to take a more proactive
approach to managing the
predators.
“The rancher is taking
the brunt of it,” Williams
said. “It is becoming one of
the major expenses for the
producer.”
Between August and
October, ODFW killed
eight members of the Look-
out Mountain pack in Baker
County after wolves repeat-
edly attacked cattle.
Under Phase III of the
Oregon Wolf Management
Plan, wolves can be killed
east of highways 395, 78
and 95 if they meet the
state’s “chronic depreda-
tion” threshold of two con-
fi rmed depredations in nine
months.
Ranchers must fi rst be
using non-lethal deter-
rents and remove all poten-
tial wolf attractants in order
for an incident to qualify
toward lethal removal.
Western Oregon wolves
were restored to the federal
endangered species list fol-
lowing a court ruling earlier
this year.
The Oregon Department
of Agriculture’s wolf com-
pensation program awarded
$130,814 in grants to 10
counties in 2021, which
helps pay for non-lethal
deterrents and provides
direct payment for ranchers
covering dead and missing
livestock.
“After a calm spring
with few incidents, we saw
a much higher number of
depredations from July
through November despite
livestock producers’ exten-
sive non-lethal eff orts to
reduce confl ict,” Brown
said. “We thank all produc-
ers who have taken preven-
tative measures and encour-
age all those in areas with
wolves to reach out for
assistance.”
Brown did express con-
cern about an uptick in
poaching that included the
poisoning of eight wolves,
including all fi ve members
of the Catherine pack in
Union County, in 2021.
So far in 2022, three
wolves have also been
poached in northeast Ore-
gon. All cases are being
investigated by the Oregon
State Police Fish and Wild-
life Division.
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