Oregon Wolves Update

Oregon Wolves Update

I’m KayDee Gilkey with today’s Open Range.

In recent weeks, we’ve learned what is going on with the wolves and livestock situation across the Pacific Northwest region. Today we will learn what is happening in Oregon.

Oregon Cattlemen’s Association Wolf Committee Rod Childers shares what the status is with wolves in Oregon.

Childers: “With our Oregon Wolf Plan, we are required to have four breeding pair for three consecutive years to be able to start the delisting process. In 2012 the ODF&W identified six breeding pair, so we are in that count down. So right now we are starting the second year, we have a total of 46 confirmed wolves in the state by the agencies which we believe there is more than that, but that is where the count is.”

Childers say although there has been less confirmed depredation, there are more missing cattle.

Childers: “We’ve got two depredating packs in the state. One is the Imnama pack and the other is the Umatilla pack. And inside of those packs is where we are starting to see above normal losses in livestock.”

Currently livestock producers who have cattle within these two depredating packs territories have written permit to kill wolves caught in the act of attacking livestock.