Action against Smackout pack ended

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced on Sept. 26 that it has ended efforts to remove members of the Smackout wolfpack. There have been no signs of preying on livestock in Stevens County since late July. Responding to repeated predation by the pack on area livestock, state wildlife managers trapped and killed two members of the pack between July 20 and July 30, then suspended its operation to assess the need for further action. “Our goal was to change the pack’s behavior, and the break in wolf depredations on livestock is consistent with the desired outcome,” said Donny Martorello, WDFW wolf manager. “We’ll continue to track the pack’s movements via GPS signals, but the removal operation is now over.” Martorello said the department took that action after documenting four instances of predation on livestock during a 10-month period. Under WDFW’s wolf-removal protocol, that pattern of predation on calves belonging to three ranchers met the threshold for lethal removal.