Being A Wolf Guardian in Idaho
by Tamra Smith, Educator California Wolf CenterThe wolves in Idaho are in trouble again. Last year the Stanley Pack located in the Sawtooth Valley were lethally controlled due to numerous depredations on sheep located on public grazing allotments. Well, as wolves do, a new pack the "Whitehawk Pack" has moved into this territory, and have also depredated on eight sheep and one guard dog. The wolves were re-introduced in Idaho in 1995, the livestock industry has been fighting for there removal ever since. Since these wolves are considered "experimental non-essential" they have a three strikes rule against livestock depredations and the Whitehawk pack is on strike two. Unfortunately, two of the male juvenile wolves didn't get another chance, and were lethally controlled due to local pressure.
Defenders of Wildlife issued an emergency alert for Wolf Guardians to camp between the wolves and the sheep. So, off to Idaho I went. Well if you are going to help protect wolves there isn't a more spectacular place to be. The Sawtooth National Recreation Area is an amazing and beautiful area. The first week I was there it was Cheri Beno another wolf advocate and myself. Our mission was to camp adjacent to the band of 2500 sheep every night, and keep the wolves out of the sheep! We used our telemetry equipment to check for signals of the wolf. There is an Alpha male, female and nine pups in this pack, but only the Alpha male is radio collared. Jeff Ashmead from Wildlife Services brought us a Remote Automated Guard (R.A.G) box to set up at night to detect the wolves. This was great because now we don't have to stay up all night checking for signals (yahoo!). The R.A.G. box has a telemetry unit in it so if a radio collared wolf comes within line of sight of the box, a bright light and loud siren go off which should scare the wolf away. This is enough to wake you up, trust me! It is a heck of an alarm clock!
During the day we hiked and drove all over the backcountry keeping a lookout for wolves and their signal. The wolves were staying up in the high country and away from the sheep, which was good news.
The following week we were joined by three of our volunteers from the California Wolf Center, Susan, Michelle, and Cindy. It was nice to have more help and more eyes to keep a look out. Later in the month another of our volunteers Debbie joined in wolf duty.
We worked hand in hand with Jeff Ashmead and Rick Williamson from Wildlife Services and the Nez Perce Tribe. There were actually three wolf packs that were in possible danger and needed monitoring. The White Hawk pack, the Wild Horse pack, and the Landmark pack. All three of these packs were either near livestock or had already depredated upon livestock. And all of these packs have pups, which makes it even more of a difficult situation with more mouths to feed for the pack.
The Wild Horse pack in Copper Basin was dangerously close to the head of the Idaho Cattleman Associations cattle. This is definitely not a good situation. We hiked about six miles in to determine their exact location, sure enough there they were. Our goal was to try and "bump them" across over the next mountain away from the cattle. The game plan was to basically encourage them to leave that general area and get them to stay there. We all yelled, screamed, howled, and made a lot of noise to scare them away. All of a sudden we hear, yelping from the pups, apparently they were not moving fast enough for moms taste and got into trouble. The pack was at the next ridge within minutes. Well, it worked for now. The pack the following day was still to close for comfort, so we made a decision to backpack in with a R.A.G. box and attempt to "bump them" again. We set up the R.A.G. box and sure enough they were gone, well for while that is. About three weeks later, I was informed that the Alpha Female had gone on a rampage and depredated on several cattle. Wildlife Services relocated two of the juveniles in the wolf pack a few days later. Hopefully this will work and take some pressure off feeding a large pack of nine wolves. The Alpha Male #B2 of this pack was transported from Canada during the original release in 1995, he is approximately 12 years old.
The White Hawk pack made an attempt in the sheep last week, but with the Wolf Guardians being on duty, did a wonderful job and scared the wolves away with no incident. Great job crew! The Landmark pack has stayed out of trouble.
My experiences in Idaho were incredible, rewarding, and something I will never forget. We laughed, we cried, we got dirty, we definitely were tired, but the opportunity to help protect these wolves' lives and well being was a huge honor for me. I met new friends, bonded with exists ones, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I think the wolves in Idaho are in good hands with a lot of caring, knowledgeable people in the field.