IDAHO WOLF MORTALITY WATCH
Idaho 2009-2010 hunting season: 188 wolves killed Idaho 2011-2012 hunting/trapping/snaring season: 379 wolves killed Idaho 2012-2013 hunting/trapping/snaring season: 320 wolves killed |
Current 2013-2014 Season Wolf Mortalities:
Latest count as of April 4, 2014 Bullets and Arrows: 183 | Traps and Snares: 102 Latest update on Idaho wolf kills by zone: 2013-2014 Mortality Report |
The Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG) year-end report for 2011 established a wolf population of 1,100. Over the next 18-months, the department reported that another 561 wolves were killed. Not knowing the exact number of wolves born in the wild over that time (pup mortality is historically very high), there were an estimated 539 wolves when the current hunting season began on August 30, 2013. This is where we start our current MORTALITY METER for Idaho wolves. Mortality updates will be entered every 2 to 4 weeks.
Summary of Big Game Mortality Report 2012-2013
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Here we unveil the carnage committed in each of Idaho’s 13 wolf management zonesduring the 2012-2013 wolf season. We include IDFG’s estimated wolf population numbers for each zone at the end of 2012, which takes into account hunter kill for the first half of the 2012-2013 season. We then add the casualties of the state’s 2013 spring brutality to roughly calculate how many wolves remain to be killed as we approach the upcoming 2013-2014 wolf-kill season.
Bears, cougars, coyotes, dogs and raptors as well as some wolves, account for livestock predation in Idaho, yet the total predator kill rate is only a miniscule percentage of total livestock deaths across the state. Paramilitary extermination of wolves is not an adequate answer to livestock predation. What has long been proven to work best are non-lethal control techniques including: fencing, guard dog/herder patrols and the prompt removal of sick or dead animals from known predator areas.
The Idaho political apparatus, controlled absolutely by the hunting and agricultural lobbies, is a vigorous proponent of trap-torture for Idaho wildlife. It has thus encouraged, trained and deployed an army of trappers, both amateur and professional, to prolong the suffering of Idaho wolves since the beginning of the 2011 season. This is especially egregious in light of the fact that California state voters outlawed the use of cruel traps and poison in 1998, while Washington State voters did the same in 2000. As of June 2013, 244 Idaho wolves have been subjected to the terror and cruelty of steel foothold traps and choking snares. Many animals, including the youngest of pups, have been forced to await their violent death for up to 72 hours while suffering severe pain, hunger and dehydration.
Zone 1 - Idaho Panhandle Zone: This northernmost zone has many public forests and widespread livestock grazing. The minimum number of wolves in the Panhandle zone at the end of 2012 was set at 55, but this was before the 2013 hunter kill took its toll of 48 additional wolves. The IDFG wolf count for this zone is imprecise since wolves in this zone move back and forth between Washington and Montana. IDFG’s latest estimate at the end of 2012 was about 15 resident packs with five other packs documented as “border packs.” Three “suspected” packs are mentioned as well as “one other group.” Out of these, only eight packs qualified as “breeding pairs.”
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): 19 gunned, 1 arrowed, 52 trapped with steel footholds or choking snares. Eleven of the dead were listed as pups or sub-adults. Two killed were the rare white wolf. One additional wolf was listed as dead by human cause. As of June 20, an additional 3 wolves have been killed by a professional trapper hired by the state to stalk remaining animals after hunting season closed. Wolves took no livestock in Idaho Panhandle Zone 1 in 2012, per IDFG’s 2012 Wolf Progress Report. Nevertheless, in that year, 3 Panhandle wolves were killed by government agents (justified as control operations) and by individuals (dubbed legal take) on top of licensed hunter kill.
Note: One of our three selected wolf packs for adoption, the Bumblebee Pack, resides in Zone 1. Adoption bracelets are available [link]. Your donations will help sustain our website so that volunteers can monitor and report activities by state, federal and private interests bent on reducing wolves to a genetically unsustainable population.
Zone 2 - Palouse-Hells Canyon Zone: This zone has mostly non-forested, agricultural dry land not anticipated to provide habitat for wolves. IDFG set the minimum number of animals in this zone at 10 by the end of 2012, but that was before the 2013 hunter kill took its toll of another 3 wolves. This zone had only three documented packs by end of 2012, and only one pack qualified as a breeding pair.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): 10 gunned, 1 listed dead from human cause. One shot female wolf bore an expensive radio collar, plus ear tag, and had a healed front leg once broken. An additional animal, submitted to IDFG as a wolf, turned out to be a domestic dog.
In 2012, one pack was blamed for one confirmed and three probable cattle losses.
Zone 3 - Lolo Zone: This zone is comprised almost entirely of national forest land administered by the USFS. The area was originally envisioned by the federal government as ideal for wolf recovery. However, after final delisting in 2011, IDFG has encouraged particularly aggressive wolf-kill in this zone, citing a lower than desired elk population as rationale. At the same time, Idaho officials admit that decades of fire suppression in this and other adjacent zones has led to decreasing forage for big game in these areas. By the end of 2012, the minimum number of wolves listed for the Lolo zone was 33, but this was before the 2013 hunter kill took its toll of another 9 wolves. IDFG listed four documented resident packs and three resident border (Montana) packs. Only two of three reproductive packs qualified as breeding pairs by the end of 2012.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): 7 gunned, 1 arrowed, 17 trapped with steel footholds or choking snares. Three of the dead were listed as pups or sub-adults. The arrowed wolf ran and was not recovered by the hunter for several days. Like many victims of archery attacks, this wolf likely suffered formidable pain for hours or days. The mortality reports submitted to IDFG for two of the foot-trapped wolves note that others accompanied each in its pack. These animals apparently stayed with the restrained wolf during its painful travail, until the trapper returned, hours or days later for the kill. This information confirms the loyalty and cohesiveness of wolves. The Lolo shooting season remains open through the denning season, until June 30 after hunting season ended, four additional wolves were killed, three of these trapped by a professional trapper deployed by the state.
Wolves took no livestock in the Lolo zone in 2012, per IDFG’s 2012 Wolf Progress Report. Nevertheless, in that year, 14 Lolo wolves were killed by government agents (control operations) and by individuals (dubbed legal take) on top of licensed hunter kill.
One of our three packs selected for adoption is the Kelly Creek Pack, which undoubtedly lives a perilous existence in the Lolo “hot” zone. Lolo wolves have been among the hardest hit in the great Idaho wolf purge. Government agents in helicopters gunned-down some of the wolves killed in this zone during 2011-2012. Adoption bracelets for survivors are available.
Zone 4 - Dworshak-Elk City Zone: This zone is predominantly steep timberland with several major river drainages. Here drastic timber harvest occurred on almost all available state and private land during the 1980s and 1990s. Livestock is often left to wander the mountains alone. By the end of 2012, IDFGlisted 14 documented wolf packs in the zone but only five qualified as breeding pairs. The minimum numbers of wolves in the zone were set at 29, but this was before the 2013 hunter kill took its toll of an additional 22 animals.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): 22 gunned, 1 arrowed, 32 trapped with steel footholds or choking snares. A number of mortality reports noted damaged or missing teeth, which may have been the result of wolves fighting the traps to free themselves. The shooting season remains open in Unit 16 north of the Selway River through the denning season, until June 30.
Confirmed wolf-caused cattle losses in this zone for 2012 were three, with two more listed as probable. Government agents killed two Dworshak wolves during control operations with one other wolf killed from other human causes.
Zone 5 - Selway Zone: This zone is rugged and remote with minor human impact. Idaho officials admit that decades of fire suppression has led to decreasing forage production for big game, but hunting lobbies insist that wolves alone are responsible for reduced numbers of elk in this area. Some of the wolves exterminated in this zone since 2011 were aerial gunned by government agents. IDFG listed three remaining packs with no breeding pairs, but it could not document a single animal for its 2012 year-end tally. The 2013 hunter toll thereafter claimed six wolves.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): 18 gunned, four trapped with steel footholds or choking snares. Six of the dead were listed as pups or sub-adults. The shooting season remains open through the denning season, until June 30 and after hunting season closed two additional wolves were hunter-killed. Wolves took no livestock in the Selway zone in 2012, per IDFG’s 2012 Wolf Progress Report.
Zone 6 - Middle Fork Zone: This remote and heavily forested zone is mostly federal land designated as Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. This gorgeous area is intersected by the middle fork of the Salmon River. IDFG documented six packs for this zone at the end of 2012, but none satisfied the breeding pair criteria. Only one animal was listed for the minimum number in 2012, but hunters terminated another 11 wolves in 2013.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): six gunned, ten trapped. One snared wolf was radio-collared. Four of the dead were listed as pups or sub-adults. The shooting season remains open in this zone right through the denning season, until June 30.
Wolves took no livestock in the Middle Fork zone in 2012, per IDFG’s 2012 Wolf Progress Report.
Zone 7 - Salmon Zone: This zone has steep mountainous slopes and river valleys. It includes both timbered and arid zones. IDFG listed ten documented resident packs and two documented border packs. The minimum number of wolves was listed at 27 and only four packs qualified as breeding pairs by the end of 2012. These numbers were calculated before the 2013 hunter kill took its toll of an additional eight animals.
Hunter Toll(August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): 24 were gunned. One hunter found a group of three wolves and managed to orphan one by killing the other two with one shot. Animals as intelligent as wolves are most certainly deeply traumatized by seeing their pack mates killed. Twelve of the season’s dead were listed as pups or sub-adults. There were eight confirmed wolf-caused cattle losses in the Salmon zone in 2012. Control operations terminated two wolves.
Zone 8 - McCall-Weiser Zone: This agricultural zone has large swaths of public lands where timber harvest and livestock grazing are prevalent. Here IDFG documented 14 packs and three other groups in 2012. IDFG set the minimum number of wolves in this zone as 18 at the end of 2012 and ironically, 2013 hunters terminated 18 additional animals. Only four packs qualified as breeding pairs at the end of 2012.
Hunter Toll(August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): 23 were gunned, one was arrowed (first puppy of the season) and eleven were trapped with steel footholds or choking snares. Thirteen of the season’s dead were listed as pups or sub-adults.
There were 12 confirmed and three probable wolf-caused cattle losses in this zone in 2012. There were also 38 confirmed and one probable sheep losses that year. Control operations terminated two wolves in 2012.
Zone 9 - Sawtooth Zone: The majority of this zone is forested public land with a large swath of agricultural lands. This zone contains Idaho’s largest metropolitan areas. IDFG documented 20 resident packs and one other group. It documented only five breeding pairs and listed 70 as a minimum number of wolves at the end of 2012. These figures were calculated before the 2013 hunter toll claimed another 24 animals.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): 43 were gunned. Seventeen of the season’s dead were listed as pups or sub-adults. Eight dead wolves were collared, one of which was from Oregon. There were four confirmed and three probable wolf-caused cattle losses, plus 73 confirmed and three probable sheep losses in the Sawtooth zone 2012. Control operations terminated 19 wolves and four other wolves died of human causes in 2012.
Zone 10 - Southern Mountain Zone:This zone, with a wide diversity of terrain from mountain ranges to flat prairies, consists primarily of public lands. Cattle ranching and livestock grazing are predominant. IDFG listed ten documented packs and one suspected pack with a minimum number of 20 wolves and only one pack qualifying as a breeding pair. These numbers were calculated before the 2013 hunter kill took its toll of an additional four wolves.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): Ten were gunned, and here again, one hunter managed to kill two wolves with one shot. Two animals were listed as pup/subadult. One adult was collared and one had evidence of a previous trap injury. One young female wolf is confirmed to have endured prolonged suffering because she was rifle-wounded in one game unit and later found dead in another unit many miles away. Out of several thousands of livestock grazing public and private lands in this zone, there were 34 confirmed and four probable cattle losses, plus 79 confirmed and 21 probable sheep losses in 2012. Control operations terminated nine Southern Mountain wolves that year. One of our three packs up for adoption is the Red Warrior Pack, located in the Sawtooth Mountains within this zone. Adoption bracelets are available.
Zone 11 - Beaverhead Zone: This zone is dominated by the Beaverhead Mountains, with some flat productive pastureland in the southern portion. Land ownership is primarily federal, with livestock production and agriculture predominant. IDFG documented one suspected pack and three resident border packs (Montana), listing the minimum number of Beaverhead wolves as four. Only one border pack qualified as a breeding pair.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 012 - March 31, 2013): Two Beaverhead wolves were gunned.
There were eight confirmed and one probable cattle loss, plus 70 confirmed sheep losses in 2012. Nine Beaverhead wolves were terminated in control and legal take operations.
Zone 12 - Island Park Zone: This Zone has high mountain ranges and severe winters at high elevations. Half of the territory is public land and major land use includes timber harvest and livestock production. IDFG documented two resident packs, five resident border packs and one other group in 2012. The minimum number of animals was 54 with four breeding pairs. This was before the 2013 hunting season took its toll of an additional three animals.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): Fourteen Island Park wolves were gunned. One was collared. Three dead were listed as pups. There were two confirmed and three probable cattle losses, plus 29 confirmed sheep losses in 2012. Four Island Park wolves were terminated in 2012 control operations, with two other wolves listed as killed by human activity.
Zone 13 - Southern Idaho Zone: This dry desert zone includes the Snake River Plains and the Idaho National Laboratory (nuclear facilities). There were no breeding pairs in this zone and IDFG listed only one pack and a minimum of one animal at the end of 2012. Ironically, the 2013 hunter toll claimed one wolf.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): One adult gray male was gunned.
In 2012, there was one confirmed and one probable cattle loss and no domestic sheep losses in this zone. One wolf was terminated in a control operation.
Bears, cougars, coyotes, dogs and raptors as well as some wolves, account for livestock predation in Idaho, yet the total predator kill rate is only a miniscule percentage of total livestock deaths across the state. Paramilitary extermination of wolves is not an adequate answer to livestock predation. What has long been proven to work best are non-lethal control techniques including: fencing, guard dog/herder patrols and the prompt removal of sick or dead animals from known predator areas.
The Idaho political apparatus, controlled absolutely by the hunting and agricultural lobbies, is a vigorous proponent of trap-torture for Idaho wildlife. It has thus encouraged, trained and deployed an army of trappers, both amateur and professional, to prolong the suffering of Idaho wolves since the beginning of the 2011 season. This is especially egregious in light of the fact that California state voters outlawed the use of cruel traps and poison in 1998, while Washington State voters did the same in 2000. As of June 2013, 244 Idaho wolves have been subjected to the terror and cruelty of steel foothold traps and choking snares. Many animals, including the youngest of pups, have been forced to await their violent death for up to 72 hours while suffering severe pain, hunger and dehydration.
Zone 1 - Idaho Panhandle Zone: This northernmost zone has many public forests and widespread livestock grazing. The minimum number of wolves in the Panhandle zone at the end of 2012 was set at 55, but this was before the 2013 hunter kill took its toll of 48 additional wolves. The IDFG wolf count for this zone is imprecise since wolves in this zone move back and forth between Washington and Montana. IDFG’s latest estimate at the end of 2012 was about 15 resident packs with five other packs documented as “border packs.” Three “suspected” packs are mentioned as well as “one other group.” Out of these, only eight packs qualified as “breeding pairs.”
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): 19 gunned, 1 arrowed, 52 trapped with steel footholds or choking snares. Eleven of the dead were listed as pups or sub-adults. Two killed were the rare white wolf. One additional wolf was listed as dead by human cause. As of June 20, an additional 3 wolves have been killed by a professional trapper hired by the state to stalk remaining animals after hunting season closed. Wolves took no livestock in Idaho Panhandle Zone 1 in 2012, per IDFG’s 2012 Wolf Progress Report. Nevertheless, in that year, 3 Panhandle wolves were killed by government agents (justified as control operations) and by individuals (dubbed legal take) on top of licensed hunter kill.
Note: One of our three selected wolf packs for adoption, the Bumblebee Pack, resides in Zone 1. Adoption bracelets are available [link]. Your donations will help sustain our website so that volunteers can monitor and report activities by state, federal and private interests bent on reducing wolves to a genetically unsustainable population.
Zone 2 - Palouse-Hells Canyon Zone: This zone has mostly non-forested, agricultural dry land not anticipated to provide habitat for wolves. IDFG set the minimum number of animals in this zone at 10 by the end of 2012, but that was before the 2013 hunter kill took its toll of another 3 wolves. This zone had only three documented packs by end of 2012, and only one pack qualified as a breeding pair.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): 10 gunned, 1 listed dead from human cause. One shot female wolf bore an expensive radio collar, plus ear tag, and had a healed front leg once broken. An additional animal, submitted to IDFG as a wolf, turned out to be a domestic dog.
In 2012, one pack was blamed for one confirmed and three probable cattle losses.
Zone 3 - Lolo Zone: This zone is comprised almost entirely of national forest land administered by the USFS. The area was originally envisioned by the federal government as ideal for wolf recovery. However, after final delisting in 2011, IDFG has encouraged particularly aggressive wolf-kill in this zone, citing a lower than desired elk population as rationale. At the same time, Idaho officials admit that decades of fire suppression in this and other adjacent zones has led to decreasing forage for big game in these areas. By the end of 2012, the minimum number of wolves listed for the Lolo zone was 33, but this was before the 2013 hunter kill took its toll of another 9 wolves. IDFG listed four documented resident packs and three resident border (Montana) packs. Only two of three reproductive packs qualified as breeding pairs by the end of 2012.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): 7 gunned, 1 arrowed, 17 trapped with steel footholds or choking snares. Three of the dead were listed as pups or sub-adults. The arrowed wolf ran and was not recovered by the hunter for several days. Like many victims of archery attacks, this wolf likely suffered formidable pain for hours or days. The mortality reports submitted to IDFG for two of the foot-trapped wolves note that others accompanied each in its pack. These animals apparently stayed with the restrained wolf during its painful travail, until the trapper returned, hours or days later for the kill. This information confirms the loyalty and cohesiveness of wolves. The Lolo shooting season remains open through the denning season, until June 30 after hunting season ended, four additional wolves were killed, three of these trapped by a professional trapper deployed by the state.
Wolves took no livestock in the Lolo zone in 2012, per IDFG’s 2012 Wolf Progress Report. Nevertheless, in that year, 14 Lolo wolves were killed by government agents (control operations) and by individuals (dubbed legal take) on top of licensed hunter kill.
One of our three packs selected for adoption is the Kelly Creek Pack, which undoubtedly lives a perilous existence in the Lolo “hot” zone. Lolo wolves have been among the hardest hit in the great Idaho wolf purge. Government agents in helicopters gunned-down some of the wolves killed in this zone during 2011-2012. Adoption bracelets for survivors are available.
Zone 4 - Dworshak-Elk City Zone: This zone is predominantly steep timberland with several major river drainages. Here drastic timber harvest occurred on almost all available state and private land during the 1980s and 1990s. Livestock is often left to wander the mountains alone. By the end of 2012, IDFGlisted 14 documented wolf packs in the zone but only five qualified as breeding pairs. The minimum numbers of wolves in the zone were set at 29, but this was before the 2013 hunter kill took its toll of an additional 22 animals.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): 22 gunned, 1 arrowed, 32 trapped with steel footholds or choking snares. A number of mortality reports noted damaged or missing teeth, which may have been the result of wolves fighting the traps to free themselves. The shooting season remains open in Unit 16 north of the Selway River through the denning season, until June 30.
Confirmed wolf-caused cattle losses in this zone for 2012 were three, with two more listed as probable. Government agents killed two Dworshak wolves during control operations with one other wolf killed from other human causes.
Zone 5 - Selway Zone: This zone is rugged and remote with minor human impact. Idaho officials admit that decades of fire suppression has led to decreasing forage production for big game, but hunting lobbies insist that wolves alone are responsible for reduced numbers of elk in this area. Some of the wolves exterminated in this zone since 2011 were aerial gunned by government agents. IDFG listed three remaining packs with no breeding pairs, but it could not document a single animal for its 2012 year-end tally. The 2013 hunter toll thereafter claimed six wolves.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): 18 gunned, four trapped with steel footholds or choking snares. Six of the dead were listed as pups or sub-adults. The shooting season remains open through the denning season, until June 30 and after hunting season closed two additional wolves were hunter-killed. Wolves took no livestock in the Selway zone in 2012, per IDFG’s 2012 Wolf Progress Report.
Zone 6 - Middle Fork Zone: This remote and heavily forested zone is mostly federal land designated as Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. This gorgeous area is intersected by the middle fork of the Salmon River. IDFG documented six packs for this zone at the end of 2012, but none satisfied the breeding pair criteria. Only one animal was listed for the minimum number in 2012, but hunters terminated another 11 wolves in 2013.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): six gunned, ten trapped. One snared wolf was radio-collared. Four of the dead were listed as pups or sub-adults. The shooting season remains open in this zone right through the denning season, until June 30.
Wolves took no livestock in the Middle Fork zone in 2012, per IDFG’s 2012 Wolf Progress Report.
Zone 7 - Salmon Zone: This zone has steep mountainous slopes and river valleys. It includes both timbered and arid zones. IDFG listed ten documented resident packs and two documented border packs. The minimum number of wolves was listed at 27 and only four packs qualified as breeding pairs by the end of 2012. These numbers were calculated before the 2013 hunter kill took its toll of an additional eight animals.
Hunter Toll(August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): 24 were gunned. One hunter found a group of three wolves and managed to orphan one by killing the other two with one shot. Animals as intelligent as wolves are most certainly deeply traumatized by seeing their pack mates killed. Twelve of the season’s dead were listed as pups or sub-adults. There were eight confirmed wolf-caused cattle losses in the Salmon zone in 2012. Control operations terminated two wolves.
Zone 8 - McCall-Weiser Zone: This agricultural zone has large swaths of public lands where timber harvest and livestock grazing are prevalent. Here IDFG documented 14 packs and three other groups in 2012. IDFG set the minimum number of wolves in this zone as 18 at the end of 2012 and ironically, 2013 hunters terminated 18 additional animals. Only four packs qualified as breeding pairs at the end of 2012.
Hunter Toll(August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): 23 were gunned, one was arrowed (first puppy of the season) and eleven were trapped with steel footholds or choking snares. Thirteen of the season’s dead were listed as pups or sub-adults.
There were 12 confirmed and three probable wolf-caused cattle losses in this zone in 2012. There were also 38 confirmed and one probable sheep losses that year. Control operations terminated two wolves in 2012.
Zone 9 - Sawtooth Zone: The majority of this zone is forested public land with a large swath of agricultural lands. This zone contains Idaho’s largest metropolitan areas. IDFG documented 20 resident packs and one other group. It documented only five breeding pairs and listed 70 as a minimum number of wolves at the end of 2012. These figures were calculated before the 2013 hunter toll claimed another 24 animals.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): 43 were gunned. Seventeen of the season’s dead were listed as pups or sub-adults. Eight dead wolves were collared, one of which was from Oregon. There were four confirmed and three probable wolf-caused cattle losses, plus 73 confirmed and three probable sheep losses in the Sawtooth zone 2012. Control operations terminated 19 wolves and four other wolves died of human causes in 2012.
Zone 10 - Southern Mountain Zone:This zone, with a wide diversity of terrain from mountain ranges to flat prairies, consists primarily of public lands. Cattle ranching and livestock grazing are predominant. IDFG listed ten documented packs and one suspected pack with a minimum number of 20 wolves and only one pack qualifying as a breeding pair. These numbers were calculated before the 2013 hunter kill took its toll of an additional four wolves.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): Ten were gunned, and here again, one hunter managed to kill two wolves with one shot. Two animals were listed as pup/subadult. One adult was collared and one had evidence of a previous trap injury. One young female wolf is confirmed to have endured prolonged suffering because she was rifle-wounded in one game unit and later found dead in another unit many miles away. Out of several thousands of livestock grazing public and private lands in this zone, there were 34 confirmed and four probable cattle losses, plus 79 confirmed and 21 probable sheep losses in 2012. Control operations terminated nine Southern Mountain wolves that year. One of our three packs up for adoption is the Red Warrior Pack, located in the Sawtooth Mountains within this zone. Adoption bracelets are available.
Zone 11 - Beaverhead Zone: This zone is dominated by the Beaverhead Mountains, with some flat productive pastureland in the southern portion. Land ownership is primarily federal, with livestock production and agriculture predominant. IDFG documented one suspected pack and three resident border packs (Montana), listing the minimum number of Beaverhead wolves as four. Only one border pack qualified as a breeding pair.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 012 - March 31, 2013): Two Beaverhead wolves were gunned.
There were eight confirmed and one probable cattle loss, plus 70 confirmed sheep losses in 2012. Nine Beaverhead wolves were terminated in control and legal take operations.
Zone 12 - Island Park Zone: This Zone has high mountain ranges and severe winters at high elevations. Half of the territory is public land and major land use includes timber harvest and livestock production. IDFG documented two resident packs, five resident border packs and one other group in 2012. The minimum number of animals was 54 with four breeding pairs. This was before the 2013 hunting season took its toll of an additional three animals.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): Fourteen Island Park wolves were gunned. One was collared. Three dead were listed as pups. There were two confirmed and three probable cattle losses, plus 29 confirmed sheep losses in 2012. Four Island Park wolves were terminated in 2012 control operations, with two other wolves listed as killed by human activity.
Zone 13 - Southern Idaho Zone: This dry desert zone includes the Snake River Plains and the Idaho National Laboratory (nuclear facilities). There were no breeding pairs in this zone and IDFG listed only one pack and a minimum of one animal at the end of 2012. Ironically, the 2013 hunter toll claimed one wolf.
Hunter Toll (August 30, 2012 - March 31, 2013): One adult gray male was gunned.
In 2012, there was one confirmed and one probable cattle loss and no domestic sheep losses in this zone. One wolf was terminated in a control operation.