In response to repeated depredations of livestock in Stevens and Pend Oreille counties, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Director Kelly Susewind today (Oct. 2, 2024) approved lethal removal of one adult wolf from the Onion Creek wolf pack territory in northeast Washington. Shortly after receiving this authorization, staff lethally removed an adult female wolf. With this removal, the lethal removal authorization has expired, and an evaluation period has started.
WDFW also lethally removed two wolves - a yearling female and an adult male- from the Onion Creek pack territory on Sept. 19 following a series of livestock depredations that resulted in WDFW’s Director authorizing lethal removal of animals from the pack. Following those removals, WDFW entered an evaluation period to assess changes to the pack’s behavior. On Sept. 30, staff investigated a calf mortality that was confirmed to be a wolf depredation.
As a result of this latest depredation, staff recommended renewing the lethal removal authorization and WDFW Director Susewind agreed. His decision is consistent with the guidance of the State's Wolf Conservation and Management Plan and the lethal removal provisions of the Department's 2017 wolf-livestock interaction protocol (PDF). The rationale for authorizing lethal removal of Onion Creek pack wolves is as follows:
WDFW has documented four confirmed wolf depredation events resulting in four dead livestock since Aug. 10, 2024, all attributed to the Onion Creek pack.
At least two (in this case, more than two) proactive deterrence measures and responsive deterrence measures were implemented by the affected livestock producers, prior to depredation events. They included daily to near-daily range riding, human presence, removing sick and injured cattle from the range, and livestock carcass sanitation.
The Department documented these deterrents in the agency's "wolf-livestock mitigation measures" checklist, with date entries for deterrent tools and coordination with the two producers. The proactive and reactive non-lethal deterrence measures implemented by the livestock producers were best suited for their operations in the professional judgment of WDFW staff.
WDFW staff discussed the recent depredation by the Onion Creek wolf pack and associated effectiveness of the nonlethal deterrence tools implemented by the affected livestock producers. Staff determined that range riding occurred on a daily/near daily basis, along with regular human presence. Despite this, staff believed depredations would likely continue given recent pack behavior. Director Susewind agreed and authorized the renewed lethal removal operation.
Previous updates
2024 Onion Creek pack updates:
WDFW will provide a final report on this and any other lethal removal actions during 2024 in the Washington Gray Wolf Conservation and Management 2024 Annual Report, which will be published during spring 2025.
A summary of all documented depredation activity within the past 10 months is included in every monthly wolf update.