Game officials investigate wolf shooting

On Sunday, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials received a report of a male wolf shot by a farmer who had pursued the wolf in a vehicle.

The shooting occurred west of US 195 close to Pullman, according to Madonna Luers, regional spokesperson for the WDFW. The shooting is under investigation by WDFW officers.

Luers said wolves are still listed on the state endangered species list for Eastern Washington, but de-listed at the federal level in this region. However, in central and western Washington, wolves are listed as endangered at both the state and federal levels.

Shooting wolves in this part of the state is allowed if the animals are endangering human life or livestock. Luers said at this time the shooting Sunday was not believed to be associated with life or livestock endangerment.

Once the investigation is complete, the report will be submitted to the Whitman County prosecutor for a decision on whether or not to file charges.

“This is very unusual,” Luers said. “We’ve had sightings in Whitman County, but we haven’t confirmed a pack.”

She said a pack is officially defined as two or more animals running together.

On March 6 of this year, a black wolf was spotted near Dusty by Roger and Peggy Zaring. A photo of the wolf is on the cover of the Pioneer Telephone Company’s current telephone book.

The wolf was in an alfalfa field close to cattle. The Zarings got into a pickup and followed the wolf.

After visiting the Zarings and examining the photos, Joey McCanna, Private Lands and Wildlife Conflict Supervisor for this region, confirmed the animal that Zarings saw was a wolf.

According to a WDFW website map, wolf sightings have been logged in most of Whitman County. The latest sighting recorded on the map was Aug. 23.

WDFW officials say attacks by wolves on livestock in general are uncommon. Livestock most likely to be attacked by wolves are sheep and calves.

Wolves were formerly common throughout most of the state, but declined rapidly because of trapping, poisoning and hunting as ranching and farming expanded between 1850 and 1900. By the 1930s wolves were no longer considered a breeding species in the state. Infrequent reports of the animals continued in the following decades, suggesting that lone wolves continued to disperse into Washington from neighboring states and British Columbia.

Reliable reports of wolves have increased in Washington since 2005, many of which have involved single animals. A pack with pups was confirmed in July 2008 in western Okanogan and northern Chelan counties and represented the first fully documented breeding by wolves in the state since the 1930s. A second pack with pups was confirmed in Pend Oreille County in July 2009. Since then several other wolf packs have been confirmed.

The average size of a wolf’s body is three to five feet long. Females typically weigh 60 to 100 pounds and males weigh 70 to 145 pounds.

Anyone who sees a wolf or any evidence of wolves are asked to report it immediately to wdfw.wa.gov or call 1-877-933-9847.