Oregon Officials Kill Wolves After Attacks on Livestock

Four members of the Imnaha Pack of wolves have been killed, Oregon's Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed Thursday.

The wolves had been linked to five livestock attacks in the last three weeks on private land in Wallowa County, officials said.

The department had received a request to take lethal action.

"Unfortunately members of the Imnaha wolf pack are once again involved in chronic livestock depredation, and ODFW is adhering to the Plan and protecting the interests of area livestock producers," said Russ Morgan, ODFW wolf coordinator.

In the three weeks, the wolves had five times gone to private land, killing livestock. Four of those attacks were in the past week.

Officials said it was "a marked departure from the pack's normal pattern."

Officials can authorize lethal force on wolves under a variety of circumstances and the four attacks in a week is one of those situations.

Non-Lethal efforts including spotlights and sheep protection dogs had been tried.

The state last year had documented eight members of the pack but believe that the pack has grown and split into two.

Among the four killed were OR-4, the alpha male, and OR-39, the alpha female.

Officials believe that age may have been a factor in the decision by the wolves to keep hunting in the area where they had found livestock.

The male is believed to be ten years old and the female had been seen limping.

The state says that despite the killing, the number of wolves is growing.

By the end of 2015, there were 110 known wolves, a 36 percent increase over the year before.