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Washington lifts kill order on Smackout Pack after two attack-free months

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife won’t kill any more wolves from the Smackout Pack, because the predators haven’t attacked any cattle for two months. Under the state’s wolf plan and protocols, department director Jim Unsworth can authorize “an incremental removal of wolves,” said Donny Martorello, wolf policy lead for WDFW. That includes a period of active removal followed by a period to evaluate whether that action changed pack behavior.The department captured and euthanized two wolves from the pack July 20-30, and entered the evaluation period July 31.“We were monitoring the movements of wolves and looking for proximity of wolves and livestock,” Martorello said. “We were really trying to see, are these animals co-existing on the landscape without conflict?”Several ranchers have livestock on federal grazing allotments in the area. They will begin to collect the cattle at the end of the month, Martorello said.The three ranchers who experienced five documented losses to the Smackout Pack all met expectations for proactive and responsive measures to deter wolves, he said.

 

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