A marksman from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife shot
and killed a member of the Togo wolf pack in Ferry County Sunday,
bringing an end to a weeks-long saga over the animal.
According to a news release from the agency, officials used location data from a radio collar the wolf was wearing to track and shoot it from a helicopter near Danville, south of the U.S.-Canada border.
The wolf was targeted for repeatedly preying on livestock and had previously been wounded by a rancher who told authorities he shot the wolf in self-defense. That incident occurred on Aug. 23 while the rancher was checking his cattle and during a time when the state wildlife agency was under a court-ordered injunction that prevented its employees from killing the wolf.
Agency Director Kelly Susewind made the decision to kill the wolf on Aug. 20 after the Togo Pack was confirmed to have been involved in six separate attacks on livestock since last November, including three late this summer.
However, the environmental groups Cascadia Wildlands and the Center for Biological Diversity sued and convinced a Thurston County Superior Court judge to issue a temporary restraining order blocking the lethal action. That order expired Friday when another Superior Court judge declined to extend the reprieve.
According to the news release, state wolf managers will perform a necropsy on the wolf and continue to monitor other members of the pack while working with ranchers to prevent further wolf-cattle interactions.
Wolves in eastern Washington are protected by the state’s version of the Endangered Species Act but they are not under federal protection like wolves in western Washington.
According to a news release from the agency, officials used location data from a radio collar the wolf was wearing to track and shoot it from a helicopter near Danville, south of the U.S.-Canada border.
The wolf was targeted for repeatedly preying on livestock and had previously been wounded by a rancher who told authorities he shot the wolf in self-defense. That incident occurred on Aug. 23 while the rancher was checking his cattle and during a time when the state wildlife agency was under a court-ordered injunction that prevented its employees from killing the wolf.
Agency Director Kelly Susewind made the decision to kill the wolf on Aug. 20 after the Togo Pack was confirmed to have been involved in six separate attacks on livestock since last November, including three late this summer.
However, the environmental groups Cascadia Wildlands and the Center for Biological Diversity sued and convinced a Thurston County Superior Court judge to issue a temporary restraining order blocking the lethal action. That order expired Friday when another Superior Court judge declined to extend the reprieve.
According to the news release, state wolf managers will perform a necropsy on the wolf and continue to monitor other members of the pack while working with ranchers to prevent further wolf-cattle interactions.
Wolves in eastern Washington are protected by the state’s version of the Endangered Species Act but they are not under federal protection like wolves in western Washington.
