Collared wolf dead, 3 others survive in Idaho wilderness

[Judi Lynn]

Collared wolf dead, 3 others survive in Idaho wilderness

Keith Ridler, Associated Press
Updated 3:08 pm, Wednesday, November 2, 2016

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Three of four wolves fitted with tracking collars in a central Idaho wilderness area last year by state officials without federal approval are surviving as another winter approaches.

The surviving wolves from three different packs are still roaming the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, officials said. An adult female died in May near the middle of the wilderness because of unknown causes.

The U.S. Forest Service in January issued a notice of non-compliance to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game after the state agency violated an agreement by using a helicopter to put collars on the wolves while also collaring about 60 elk for an approved elk study.

. . .

"The collaring of wolves in the wilderness was a black eye," Jim Hayden, an Idaho Fish and Game biologist, said Tuesday. He confirmed the three wolves remained alive by checking a computer that downloads information from the collars.

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Collared-wolf-dead-3-others-survive-in-Idaho-10489208.php

[pscot]

1. is wilderness still a word?

[Eleanors38]

3. To Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, it is.

[Eleanors38]

2. One "good" thing for wolf preservation: The animals are spreading

well beyond their areas of re-introduction. I think controlled hunts and regulated depradation permits might allow wolf populations to grow. The biggest threat to wolves was always mass-poisoning (which killed many other species as well), and not hunting.