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Defenders of Wildlife
This gray wolf is part of a pack near Ketchum, Idaho, that might have been the intended targets of poison-laced meat.
Fearing that someone is trying to kill gray wolves in central Idaho, an environmental group and a sheep ranch this week put up a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of whoever laced meat with poison that instead killed one dog and sickened another.
That the poisoning happened wasn't so much a surprise. The resurgence of gray wolves across the Pacific Northwest is controversial, including this area of central Idaho known as the "sheep superhighway."
But Defenders of Wildlife and the Flat Top Ranch hope their reward will galvanize locals and showcase the value of using non-lethal tools to try to minimize wolf conflicts.
"It would be a real shame for incidents like this to undermine all our hard work," Suzanne Stone, the Defender of Wildlife's Northern Rockies representative, said in a statement announcing the reward. "We hope the community will use this as a rallying cry to continue promoting greater tolerance for all native wildlife."
John Peavey, owner of Flat Top Ranch, acknowledged that the resurgence of wolves has meant "many challenges," but he added that "we must meet them within the framework of our laws. Those responsible need to be brought to justice."
The poisonings happened in mid-August, when two dogs fell sick after eating chunks of meat while on separate hikes with their owners outside Ketchum, a town that also is home to the world-famous Sun Valley Lodge and ski resort.
One dog died a few days later, while the other recovered.
The meat was poisoned with Xylitol, an artificial sweetener used in human food but which can be lethal to animals by causing a surge in insulin and becoming toxic to its liver.
Xylitol first surfaced in connection with wolves in 2010 when anti-wolf activist Toby Bridges blogged that many hunters were packing "a healthy dose of the sweetener whenever they head out for big game."
He also warned hunters to make sure their dogs didn't get near poisoned carcasses.
Washington state completes a sharpshooter cull of a wolf pack that had been feeding on livestock. KING's Gary Chittim reports.
Stone told NBC News she didn't know of any confirmed cases of wolves being poisoned with Xylitol, but added that federal and state officials with whom she met suspected the batch eaten by the dogs was meant for wolves.
Gray wolves used to be abundant across the Northwest, but settlers a century ago nearly wiped them out.
In the 1990s, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began an effort to return them to the northern Rockies, bringing 66 wolves into Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho from Canada.
The wolves eventually went beyond the park's borders and into other parts of Wyoming and neighboring states. About 1,400 are in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, where wolves were taken off the federal endangered list due to their rising numbers.
The poisoning incident comes after several years of progress with local sheep ranchers in minimizing wolf attacks, she added.
Defenders of Wildlife
A hidden camera used to track wolves captures the alpha female of a pack near Ketchum, Idaho, in mid-August along with her pups.
Part of what's known as the Wood River Wolf Project, those non-lethal tools include:
- Using more sheepdogs during parts of the year;
- Tracking the local wolf packs with motion sensitive cameras;
- Firing starter guns or air horns to scare wolves;
- Deploying portable strobe light/alarm systems to alert herders that wolves are near;
- Electrified barriers made with small flags to keep wolves out;
- Keeping humans with bands of sheep at night.
Lava Lake Lamb
A herder with Lava Lake Lamb sets up a fence made with flags to deter gray wolves as part of the Wood River Wolf Project in Idaho.
"Our field crew has spent more than 70 nights camping with the sheep bands this summer," Stone said. "The deterrents are working very well despite the almost constant presence of wolves near sheep."
Out of more than 10,000 sheep in the area, she added, just four were lost this summer.
Those four sheep belonged to a project partner who initially wanted the wolves killed but then backed off when it was realized the pack was a new one that hadn't been tracked, Stone said.
"As a result of his support," she said, "no wolves were killed and our nonlethal deterrents kept wolves from killing more sheep since that event in early July."
Related: Killing of wolf pack draws anger of key lawmaker
This week and next, field crews will sleep with a band of sheep as it makes its way down the "sheep superhighway" and then through Ketchum on Oct. 13 for the annual Trailing of the Sheep Festival, Stone said.
"We have wolves right where the sheep are now," she told the Idaho Mountain Express. "We’ve had our field crew intercept wolves coming in to howl and bark at the dogs. So far, the deterrents have been holding."
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I really wish they would stop killing these wolves. They are beautiful creatures!
What these ranchers need to understand is that these wolves are integral to containing the population of prairie dogs, etc. that can do more to destroy grazing land and hurt their operations than the wolves themselves ever could. The wolves also keep the elk and deer populations under control so that they do not get to large for the land to support. The lack of predators for deer and elk has resulted in over population and the animals starving in the winter because there is not enough food to support the populations. The wolves are needed to keep the ecosystem in balance. Without an apex predator like the wolves everything gets out of balance and all wildlife suffers, including the plant life that the ranchers count on for their animals to graze.
I hope they catch the SOB who put out the poisoned meat and lock him up for a while. There is absolutely no excuse for this. Putting out poisoned meat kills animals that were not doing anything to hurt anyone and is completely unacceptable.
JS in SD. You really have no clude to what you are talking about. There is no need for the wolves to control the elk and deer populations. The Fish and Game along with Rocky Mountian Elk Federation and Mule Deer Foundation do a wonderful job in controlling the population by how many tags are allowed for a certain area. Along with the hunters, bears, mountain lions the herds are managed just fine. The wolf that was introduced into Montana, Idaho and Wyoming was a Canadian Wolf and a total different breed. They have decimated the elk and deer populations in many areas. These wolves are ruthless killers. I have seen a cow elk still breathing that had her young calf ripped out of while still alive for the wolves to feed on. They kill just to kill They are ruining the livelihoods of many people. The ranchers are loosing money from the calfs that are eaten. Many small towns that once thrived in the fall months due to in state and out of state hunters that came to these town and spent money on gas, food and lodging are losing their businesses. Why? Because of the cancer that was put into our forest that some policitians think we needed. I will kill every wolf I see and the only thing I will feel is the recoil from my rifle. Enough said
Fence your sheep in and maybe they won't get killed by the wolves. I'm sure there are other non lethal measures people can use to protect the sheep. So sad about the poor dogs.
JS in SD wrote: "Putting out poisoned meat kills animals that were not doing anything to hurt anyone and is completely unacceptable."
In saying that, JS sure does know what he/she is talking about. I live in a residential neighborhood and this is exactly what happened to my dog. The idiot next door, in attempting to poison a stray cat, put poison near my fence where... of course... my little dog pulled it under the fence into my yard and ate it and died a horrible death. I personally think that anyone who puts poison out where any innocent animal or child can come along and find it is totally irresponsible and an extreme idiot. What did the idiot in the article do... put a sign on the poisoned meat stating, "For wolves only"...?
(For those who will wonder: The stray cat is no more... he now lives inside my house and is very happy.)
I would have to agree completely.
A. Only a supreme idiot puts poison out where innocent animals, children and family pets can get to it and ingest it.
B. If you want to keep your livestock safe, fence them in and take precautions. There are dogs that you can raise with sheep that help to protect them as well as dogs that you can train. Wolves will only risk it if they are desperate.
C. Wolves have every right to live their lives on the land they are a part of. If they are hunting livestock then chances are it's because their natural prey are being taking down by humans. They are beautiful creatures and deserve to be protected not hunted simply because they partially compete with humans for the land.
"Stone told NBC News she didn't know of any confirmed cases of wolves being poisoned with Xylitol, but added that federal and state officials with whom she met suspected...."
This sounds like more people who want their consciences to be your guide, to me, and a news agency willing to make an article all about speculation...... Come on, guys. Really? Sweetner? They don't know but they suspect and you write all this S*** like they are facts. Can you say SKEWED by the animal rights activists....?
tdscoressix
People kill more wildlife then any wolf packs do. If the Native Americans could survive with and along side all the wildlife in this country, so can us NON-native white folk. Oh and if you own any dogs? You can thank the wildlife those dogs were once bred from. Same as your cattle and sheep. Or do you think your cattle was always domestic?
Holly888 I'm sorry for the loss of your dog. Hopefully your neighbor got arrested and had his butt kicked. I have stray cats around my house and the neighbors are always complaining but if people would stop letting their animals run loose and get them fix there wouldn't be any stray animals.
@tdscoressix - You are the one without a clue. There may not be a problem in one specific location, but there certainly is in others. I also noticed you did not address the issue with smaller animal like prairie dogs. The wolves actually kill far more of these types of animals than they do larger prey. Prairie dogs as well as other rodents are well known to destroy grazing land. Also, wolves most definitely do not kill just to kill, they only kill to eat or in self defense. The fact that you would even attempt to convince anyone otherwise tells me you are either a troll or completely clueless. Man is one of, if not the only animal that kills for sport.
I live in the mountains of Idaho and I have seen the impact that wolves have had on our state firsthand. First of all, these are genetically altered wolves created in a lab. They are 30% larger than the previous indigenous species that our state had. They are so big in fact that they weigh up to 220 pounds and they are decimating our deer and elk populations. Our big game simply can't keep up with the wolves. This is driving our other predators such as bears and mountain lions into our backyards to hunt our dogs and cats, horses and our smaller species such as fox and coyotes. The impact I see is too great.
Poisoning is not the answer, but I have known families that have lost dogs, horses and cattle to wolf attacks. I know two boys who took their new lab puppy swimming and a lone wolf bounded out of the nearby trees, tore the pup up and left it still alive for the boys to carry home. It is devastating to lose pets and I only wonder if the person responsible was not thinking straight due to grief.
Angela~
I've been trying to find it on the internet and maybe I'm missing it, but where are you getting that there are genetically altered wolves created in a lab? To me that seems like a false claim but I'm more then open to read about it provided the source is credible. I don't know why the government would feel the need to alter the genetics to that extent.
I live in Ketchum. You are wrong about the wolves. S. Stone is a nutcase who has anthropomorphised these wolves. Seriously, read what she has written. This woman is not mentally stable and is a danger to herself and others. Can you say MUNCHAUSEN SYNDROM BY PROXY?
use public land take your chances,same with hiking through national forests,using public land does not give rights to what lives or dies.
while some hunters don,t follow the 98% will,don't blame all hunters for a few morons.Besides the taxes we hunters pay on ammo,guns ,and anything connected to sport(fishing included)goes into the millions
I really wish the wolves would stop killing these elk. They are beautiful creatures!
administrators wife, you have it ALL wrong it is the hunters killing the elk and then blaming it on wolves.
The sheep are saying that wolves are killers, but everybody knows that sheep lie.
Where do I send my bill to these ranchers for using public land and killing my wolves??
I stand with you!!
Too bad the wolves can't shoot back!!!
Ok so let's get this straight; you could collar the alpha male a few months ago, but had to shot the entire pack. Why couldn't you have moved the entire pack instead of killing them. The cattle graze on public land for the cost of using that land you have to live with the dangers of the wolf. Ridiculous!! If the land truly belongs to the public, then move the cattle to your own land!
I agree 100% the ranchers are using public land. The wolves are also on public land I assume. It makes no sense to spend public dollars to repopulate the wolf population then use public monies to kill them off.
As much as I didn't agree with their decision to kill the pack, all parties had already agreed that moving the pack would still create a problem for farmers in the new area, regardless if they had deterrants up or not. The farmer who created a stink was in the wrong, but unfortunately all sides who are trying to conserve and limit the destruction of wolves did agree that destroying the pack was the best option.
But atleast this article is about looking for who is trying to poison the wolves in this area and showed that many farmers have many deterrants in place to avoid loss of livestock. It's better to collar and track packs than assume your property would always be wolf-free and go off the deep end because you failed to comply with the suggested options to limit incidents.
The ranchers put out poison meat out to kill wolves and the dogs ate the meat!!!!!!!!!! What other animals are going to eat the meat and die!!!
This is the height of Stupidity!!!!!!!!!!!!
The meat was placed at a trailhead that is what would be considered inside city linits in any other town. I live in Ketchum, and known S. Stone. I would be more than willing to place a very large sum of money on a bet that she did this herself to attract attention to herself. She has developed a pattern of EXACTLY this type of behavior. Its called Munchausen by proxy and this case has Stones fingerprints all over it.
The rancher who fought for the pack to be removed as he calls it, is a known abuser of the grazing rights on National Forest land which you and I all pay for. What he has done is little more than criminal bribery by swaying some fish and game person to do something that really didn't need to be done. This same rancher is , for lack of better terms, one of those who still thinks wearing a side arm and driving like a mad man down one lane Forest Service roads is an okay thing to do. How do I know this? I live in that same area. What I once use to be really happy to hear, the wolves howling at night, is now stone cold silence. ALL due to this ranchers $$ in some politicans back pocket. I just have to openly wonder how he'd respond if the wolves suddenly decided that they liked human flesh over beef or deer?...This is the same rancher who has time and time again fought the Forest Service on every angle for grazing rights and seemingly somehow gets away with putting his herd in a WILDERNESS area when it doesn't belong there to begin with and that is as perscribed by law!!! Kinda makes a person wonder where the money trail with this rancher would lead to....gee...I wonder.
You guys are all crazy! Did any of you actually read this flipping article?! It says that the ranchers are NOT poisoning the wolves and they want to know who IS poisoning them. I actually know these two sheep operators personally since I live in Idaho. Flat Top and Lava Lake do NOT go around with side arms and abuse these public lands with their livestock and, in fact, their grazing allotments are on the cover of magazines and articles as examples of how beautiful Idaho is. Lava Lake has actually been the recipient of many land stewardship awards, locally and nationally and both Lava Lake and John Peavey from Flat Top do many wildlife habitat enhancement projects on their private lands. For wildlife. Not livestock. Get a clue people and don't comment on stuff that you know absolutely NOTHING about.
They are making references to a different story, Idaho Gal, not accusing the sheep ranchers in this one.
I too am fromIdaho and love it how all thse trolls who know nothing about which they speak, find themselves so offended by misinformation feed to them by people who have an agenda and will not let facts stand in their way. Stone placed the poison herself. She HAS done this before.
Idaho Gal: The video clip is of an area I reside in and around and have for some 20 plus years!. Stevens County Washington State.....or do YOU read and listen...? This is the same rancher who has for years been allowed to operate well outisde of the grazing permit law and in some cases has been known to do things that are, well...for lack of better terms, way outside of ethics that the USDA Forest Service is SUPPOSED to abide by. Tables and times have turned. The Stockmans and Woolgrowers Assoication no longer hold that much sway over the peoples lands they once did. It's time to put the bite back into the peoples lands....PUBLIC lands...OUR lands.
Here again is the human (the dumb ones, which is way too many of them) solution to a problem -- kill it.
I wonder if this sweetener kills any other animals, besides wolves?? If so, them killers are horrible people. Kill everything that eats meat to get one animal.
We have wolves in the alps, sheperds use a dog named patou or the mountain pyrenees dog.. It is excellent at keeping wolves away.. This is what sheep owners need to get so wolves leave sheep alone.
The patou is not a regular dog.. it is UNDOMESTICATED and has to stay as it is so he does his work. The patou lives all year long with the sheep, it eats with them, he sleeps with them and keep the sheep safe. In order for the patou to do his work it cannot be domesticated which means a minimum contact with humans.
I find these stories of ranchers and hunters, that most likely identify with "Cowboy" culture, reacting so prejudically towards the re-introduction of the wolf to its traditional territories more than just a little ironic. I may be wrong but having traveled through both Eastern Washington and Idaho I've always been left with the impression that many people there took great pride in being "Cowboys". And I think that can be great. Personally, I think if you consider yourself rugged outdoorsman and or a "Cowboy" type you aught to find a better solution. I mean if you want to be a real "Cowboy", you aught to show a little more backbone and forsight. I know for those who are trying to earn a livelyhood these wolves can be a real issue and present a real problem. There are a lot of attributes that people who work the land in these areas can matain or adopt from the settlers, but the total extinction of the wolf shouldn't be one of them.
These ranchers are grazing on taxpayer land for free or virtually for free and they refuse to do anything to protect their cattle from predators. I say that if they want to kill wolves, we should take our grazing land back. How would they like that? Maybe they could learn to play nice with our wildlife. It's not they are giving the beef away; as consumers, we already pay $10.00 a pound for a steak. If they raise the prices, we can just buy it from Argentina and they will lose the land they have, and that means more range for the wolves. They are awfully pissy for people who depend on the good graces of the taxpayers. The BLM protects them and hides the facts that they are getting free grazing on OUR land.
Anybody who would put out poison, not caring who or what stumbled across it, should be tied to a tree in the wilderness, and left to the mercy of the wild! That may seem harsh, but I can assure you that if it were my dog that was dead, the poisoner would prefer that end, to what I would have in store for him!
should have had their dogs tied up.
The dogs could have been leashed as they were with their owners on a hike. Dogs do try to eat things while walking along and be forcefully pulled away as the owners keep walking. You see it happen at parks where dogs find a piece of food that was lying on the ground as they are being walked by their owners. The people who left the meat are responsible, not the dog owners.
WE live in THEIR world and then WE kill THEM! How sad. Leave the wolves to live their lives. I'm sure if they had a choice they wouldn't want us anywhere near them!
Agreed. They usually avoid people anyways. The only time there is a conflict is when livestock is involved. You never really hear of people getting attacked by wolves out of the blue. The incidents are few and far between. You have a greater chance of getting hit by a car than attacked by a wolf.
We are missing the point here people somebodies dog died because some a-hole tried to kill some wolves.
Munchausen by proxy. Stone did it to herself. Look her up, she has done this kinda doodoo before. I live in Ketchum, Stone is wacko.
The whole thing makes me ill. Just look at the guy who made the call. If there's something that should be culled it's a worthless sot, him.
in Georgia people have donkey or mules in with their animal they keep coyote out dont really know if this true but talked to people that have the donkeys and mules a shame a dog died but I am a WOLF LOVER have since I was very youmg
Burros and donkeys make excellent protectors of sheep and cattle. A lot of them lost their jobs this past year due to the drought.
Why do these cattlemen and sheep herders adopt them to protect their livestock. Donkeys will even protect free range chicken.
They are so protective of their charges. These creatures hate canine, they will stomp wolves and coyotes, and dogs, too.
Dumb rednecks OUT of Idaho... NOW!
Oh... asking too much?
DUMB MORONS OUT OF THE USA NOW. You are obviously another TWANLOC Dhimmocrat
watching the video of the rancher sitting on his horse made me want to get sick.Here is a guy that could of did things in his power to protect his cattle and didn't.Then wants to blame a wild animal and get the whole family killed.This guy needs to get in the 21st century and use technological tools to save the wolves and his stupid ass cattle. shame on the rangers that let this happen.
Then you watch the 2nd video on this page and see the ranchers doing things to help protect their sheep and the wolves. These people are educating themselves and only lost one sheep this year. Just because our grandfathers killed them on site doesn't mean it is the right thing to do.They also showed that they lose more cattle to dogs then to wolves . And for every cattle killed by a wolf wild life org forks out money to the ranchers .I think the rancher from the first video (D ranch or something like that) should have to comply to the changes or lose out.He is an ass. Very cocky sounding guy.
The wolves are dirty ruthless killers that need to be shot on sight
If they were attacking people then they should be killed just like bears. But they are following the food chain and if you don't want your cattle part of the food chain then build a fence or pay someone to be with the cattle 24/7 . I think Deborah has a few screws lose .really ruthless killers ... I bet you believe in god too...
I really hope these people who poison wild animals burn in hell forever. I think it should be a capital offense. Death by the same poison.
While in no way what you would call an "environmentalist" wolves have a right to live too! The fact that this poisoned meat killed a dog (pet) makes this cowardly act even more despicable. While a bunch of lame ass liberals would argue "cruel and unusual" I'd prefer to see these culprits when caught made to "chow down" on a couple heaping helpings of what they left laying around for these poor animals (and if there's any left over serve it up at the next Obama fundraiser!)
Ranchers AND Hunters.The REAL culprits destroying the enviroment.I've reconed these so-called sportsmen bozos
many a time and they are the biggest cheaters against wildlife hands down!
Ranchers are just greedy business opportunists who could care less if your kids are poisoned let alone wildlife or your dogs!