Grand Teton wolves may be hunted if they kill cattle

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) - Wolves that move into Grand Teton National Park may be killed if they repeatedly prey on livestock, according to a federal wolf biologist.

Three groups of wolves from Yellowstone National Park seem to be establishing territory in the park and nearby National Elk Refuge. Cattle are released in Grand Teton to graze during the summer.

Ed Bangs, head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf recovery program, discussed the threat with ranchers and state and federal officials in Jackson on Thursday.

"If you have wolves around you will have some loss of livestock sometimes," Bangs said.

He said livestock kills by wolves are rare: Wolves kill an average of eight cows and eight sheep each year in Montana and Idaho, where there are seven and 10 packs of wolves, respectively.

Wolves that acquire a taste for beef, however, often keep killing cattle. The danger is they could pass such behavior onto offspring or other packmates, Bangs said.

Wolves are more likely to go after calves of cattle or elk rather than adults because they are easier to kill. Absence of elk calves in May could make wolves more likely to pursue bovine calves, he said.

Although wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act, the Yellowstone-Teton population has a special designation as an experimental population and troublemakers may be hunted.

Bangs said he expects wolves will be removed from the endangered species list and the state will take over management in about four years. Beyond a federal requirement to ensure that 10 breeding pairs of wolves remain in Wyoming, the state can do whatever it wants - including opening a wolf hunt to keep the population in check.

"Socially, the first few hunts are going to be tough because people are going to come unglued," Bangs said. "But biologically, it's no problem to manage wolves with hunting."

Wolves reproduce quickly, which makes hunting them more sustainable than hunting other predators, he said.

"Just a little bit of mortality will send a grizzly bear population down the tubes," Bangs said. "With wolves you can have a 30 percent harvest rate and still have a viable population."

As for the effect wolves would have on wild game populations, Bangs said 10 breeding pairs and their offspring would have a "minuscule impact."