Federal wolf managers have decided to eliminate the Boulder wolf pack, which killed cattle for the second time on ranches near Deerlodge, Montana. The pack killed two cows and a calf in early June as well as some cows last January. In January the ADC killed some of the offending wolves, or so they thought. Apparently they killed large pups (almost yearlings) instead by mistake.
     Carl Niemeyer of ADC, who is the agency's expert on dealing with problem wolves was quoted as saying the "wolves won't escape extermination." He also said they had to find the pups first.
     ADC has been unable to capture the pups, however. They were able to capture and radio-collar the alpha female, but she did not return to the pack and lead the ADC to the pack.  I understand Friends of the Animals is considering a lawsuit to prevent the killing of all the adults in the pack.
     The pups are slated to go to "Running Creek" in central Idaho's Selway- Bitterroot Wilderness. There they are expected to be paired with adult wolves (B7M and B11F in the Running Creek wolf enclosure), and eventually released into the Idaho wilds. If the pups are not captured soon, B7 and B11 (who apparently did not have pups despite this being their second year together) will be released.
     The Boulder pack has not killed cattle since early June, perhaps because of the return their normal prey of deer and elk to their range. However, the pack is doomed under the "two strikes policy." Individual wolves are moved the first time they kill livestock. The second time, they are killed. There appears to be legal controversy over the legal validity of this policy, especially since the Boulders are not an experimental wolf population. 
     The situation is similar to that of the Sawtooth Pack in NW Montana in September 1996. The adults in that pack persisted in killing cattle on the Rocky Mountain Front . As a result all but two of the adults were finally killed and ten of the 14 pups were brought to Yellowstone and held throughout 1996 and were released in two stages this March and June. Since their release, the pen-raised Sawtooth yearlings have not fared well, with four of the ten already dead -- two in legal shootings and two by accident. It is only one case, but it does cast doubt on the effectiveness of pen-raising pups from another pack with two new adults and then releasing them to the wilds.
     Readers should note that the Boulder Pack is a pack formed by wolves that naturally reinhabited Montana. They are not wolves from the Idaho or Yellowstone reintroductions.
     For background, please read my reports on the capture of the Sawtooth pups dated 9/3 and 9/15/96 and the recent stories about the deaths of the four Sawtooth yearlings. Read my earlier stories on the Boulder Pack, dated 1/9 and 1/21/97. Folks might also want to read my article on the capture of the Soda Butte Pack dated 6/7/96 and the release of the Sawtoth pups dated 3/19/97.
     The issue over the fate of the Boulder Pack has raised as great deal of rancor both in email to me and, much more importantly, to the ADC,  and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.