Statute of limitations spares Couse pack

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind opted against ordering removal of one or more members of the Couse wolf pack, following its latest suspected attack on livestock.

According to a news release from the agency, wildlife officials investigated an injured calf on Oct. 13 and determined the pack was likely responsible for the attack. However, the wounds were at least two weeks old at the time of the investigation. The state uses lethal removal of wolves to try to change an offending pack’s behavior. The department said in the news release that lethal removals are deemed to be most effective when they happen within two weeks of an attack.

“Due to the age of the injuries, the effective period for lethal removal has already passed,” the agency wrote in a notice posted to its website Monday.

The Couse pack, which roams the breaks of the Snake and Grande Ronde rivers and ridges of the Blue Mountains, is now suspected of six attacks on cattle since June. Susewind authorized agents to kill one member of the pack Sept. 29. But the kill order expired Oct. 8, before department officials were able to carry out the order. It was not extended.

In July, Susewind authorized the lethal removal of two members of the pack. But an employee of a ranch shot and killed a male wolf that was attacking cattle before the order could be carried out. Susewind then rescinded the order and the attacks subsided for a few months. They started again Sept. 19, when the pack was blamed for injuring a calf.