So far in Fiscal Year 2000, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services Program has confirmed that 11 cattle and 35 sheep have been killed or attacked by wolves. In March, the service authorized the killing of five wolves in central Idaho after they became accustomed to killing livestock. To discourage wolves in the area, the service trapped the wolves and relocated them to habitat near the Selway-Bitteroot Wilderness Area, about 150 miles north of their normal range. But wolves often find their way back to a reliable meal. Those that become too habituated to livestock have to be removed.
Lethal control is the last resort.
Rarely do we know which animal was responsible for killing the livestock. This makes it difficult to stop depredation. If we had had a better management tool we would not have had to use lethal control in the white clouds. In March, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service authorized the killing of five wolves in central Idaho after they became habituated to killing livestock Under the proposed plan, ranchers could shoot at wolves that approached their livestock with a shotgun containing rubber projectiles. The idea is that the wolves would be conditioned to associate ranching areas, cattle and sheep with pain.