Administrative Rules of Montana › Department 12 - FISH, WILDLIFE, AND PARKS › Chapter 12.9 - WILDLIFE DIVISION › Subchapter 12.9.13 - Gray Wolf Management › Rule 12.9.1302 - DEFINITIONS

Current through Register Vol. 13, July 5, 2024
The following definitions apply to this subchapter:
(1) "Adaptive management" means wolf
				conservation and management strategies that will maintain a recovered
				population and ensure natural connectivity and genetic exchange among the wolf
				populations in Canada, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. It establishes resource
				objectives such as maintenance of a recovered population; it monitors progress
				towards meeting those objectives; and it adjusts management decisions to meet
				these resource objectives. Adaptive management directs selection of more
				conservative or liberal management tools, accordingly. Adaptive management
				allows the department a full range of tools to ensure a recovered and connected
				population.
(2) "Agency" means the
				Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks or another agency of government
				authorized by the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks through an interagency
				cooperative agreement.
(3)
				"Attacking" means the actual biting, wounding, or grasping of livestock or
				domestic dogs.
(4) "Breeding pair"
				means an adult male and an adult female wolf with at least two pups on December
				31 as referenced in the Montana Gray Wolf Conservation and Management Plan.
(5) "Confirms", "confirmed", or
				"confirmation" means an incident where the department or USDA Wildlife Services
				determines through a field investigation of dead or injured livestock that
				there is reasonable physical evidence that the animal was actually attacked
				and/or killed by a wolf. The primary confirmation would ordinarily be the
				presence of bite marks and associated subcutaneous hemorrhaging and tissue
				damage, indicating that the attack occurred while the victim was alive, as
				opposed to simply feeding on an already dead animal. Spacing between canine
				tooth punctures, feeding pattern on the carcass, fresh tracks, scat, hairs
				rubbed off on fences or brush, and/or eye witness accounts of the attack may
				help identify the specific species or individual responsible for the
				depredation. Predation might also be confirmed in the absence of bite marks and
				associated hemorrhaging (i.e., if much of the carcass has already been consumed
				by the predator or scavengers) if there is other physical evidence to confirm
				predation on the live animal. This might include blood spilled or sprayed at a
				nearby attack site or other evidence of an attack or struggle. There may also
				be nearby remains of other victims for which there is still sufficient evidence
				to confirm predation, allowing reasonable inference of confirmed predation on
				the animal that has been largely consumed.
(6) "Habituated" means readily visible in
				close proximity to people or structures on a regular basis; not threatened by
				close proximity and may even be attracted to human presence or human food
				sources; extremely rare behavior in wild wolves, but typical behavior for
				released captive wolf or wolf-dog hybrid; for wolves, may or may not involve
				food conditioning.
(7)
				"Intentional harassment" means the deliberate and preplanned harassment of a
				wolf by less than lethal munitions, including but not limited to, 12 gauge shot
				gun rubber bullets and bean bag shells, that are designed to cause physical
				discomfort and temporary physical injury but not death. Intentional harassment
				may also include other devices intended to make noise such as 12 gauge shot gun
				cracker shells, RAGG boxes, propane cannons, or sirens.
(8) "Lethal control" means killing a wolf
				except for hunting or trapping by the public as authorized by the commission as
				part of a regulated public harvest.
(9) "Livestock" means bison as defined in
				81-1-101, MCA, cattle, calf, hog,
				pig, horse, mule, sheep, lamb, llama, goat, herding or guarding animals, rhea,
				emu, ostrich, donkey, and certain breeds of dogs commonly used for herding or
				guarding livestock.
(10)
				"Nonlethal control" means actions intended to decrease the risk of conflict
				that does not injure or kill a wolf.
(11) "Opportunistic hazing in a noninjurious
				manner" means harassment, without the conduct of prior purposeful actions, such
				as yelling and radio activated noise makers, or use of firearms to scare or
				discourage a wolf in a way that does not injure or kill the wolf.
(12) "Potential threat" means those wolves in
				immediate proximity to human dwellings, livestock, or domestic dogs.
(13) "Problem wolf" means a wolf that has
				been confirmed by the department or USDA Wildlife Services to have attacked or
				been in the act of attacking livestock within the past 45 days.
(14) "Threatening to kill" means the actual
				chasing, testing, molesting, harassing of livestock or livestock
				herding/guarding animals that would indicate to a reasonable person that an
				attack was imminent.
(15) "USDA
				Wildlife Services" means the Wildlife Services Division of the United States
				Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection
				Service.
87-1-201,
					 87-1-301,
					 87-5-105,
					 87-5-110,
					 87-5-131, MCA; IMP,
					 87-1-201,
					 87-1-301,
					 87-5-102,
					 87-5-103,
					 87-5-104,
					 87-5-105,
					 87-5-108,
					 87-5-131,
					 MCA;