#Smackout Pack

[xtruss]

Cougars are Ambushing and Killing Wolves—and No One Knows Why

These rare kills in Washington State have biologists searching for answers. “Everyone always assumes wolves have the upper hand,” says one scientist. “But that’s not always the case.”

— By Kylie Mohr | August 25, 2023

Fighting like Cats and Dogs? As Washington State Cougars target Wolves, scientists are grappling to understand this unusual behavior. Since their reintroduction to the American West in 1995, wolves have expanded their range. Though some neighboring States have five times as many wolves, Washington is documenting far more of these kills—almost 30 percent of the 21 documented natural wolf mortalities in the state. "That's huge if that trend holds," says Trent Roussin, a Washington biologist. Photograph By Bob Gibbson/Alamy

A female wolf padded down an old logging road in northeastern Washington last summer. The yearling would have barely made a sound as she trotted through brush and dry pine needles on an overgrown path that dropped into a steep canyon. Somewhere in the shadows—possibly tucked away in the bushes or hunkered down behind a boulder—she was watched by amber eyes. They belonged to a cougar, which pounced.

The two tangled in a blur of fur, claws, and teeth, with evidence showing the fight came to an abrupt end, about a hundred yards downhill, when the cougar's sharp bite punctured the wolf's skull. The feline nibbled on the wolf, then hid the carcass for a later meal before slinking off into the forest.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) staff have documented cougars killing six collared wolves since 2013—almost 30 percent of the 21 documented natural wolf mortalities in the state. "That's huge if that trend holds and is representative of the entire population [in the state]," says Trent Roussin, a WDFW biologist. The kills involve multiple wolf packs in different areas of Washington.

Such kills are rare elsewhere in the U.S. West, where more wolves are on the landscape since their reintroduction to Yellowstone National Park, which is mostly in Wyoming, and central Idaho in 1995. Today Montana and Idaho have over five times more wolves than Washington.

Yellowstone biologists documented only two cases of cougars killing wolves in the past 28 years (the last in 2003). Idaho also recorded only two kills (the last in 2012).

In Montana, five wolf deaths due to cougars were documented between 2009 and 2012. "We have not seen anything like that since that time to my knowledge," said Brian Wakeling, game management bureau chief, by email.

"It just goes to show how rare it is in those states,” says Roussin. “We have a much smaller population, but we've documented it far more frequently." Wolves had naturally dispersed into Washington by the summer of 2008; recent counts found 216 wolves in 37 packs, mostly in the Cascade Range and the state's wooded northeastern corner.

Roussin points to the cougar's signature on this wolf skull: two punctures where the cat’s teeth pierced it. Photograph Via WDFW

The Lone Wolf Factor

While a wolf pack tends to have an advantage over a single cougar—sometimes running it up into a tree or kicking it off a carcass to scavenge for themselves—a cougar excels in a one-on-one ambush. All but one of Washington's wolf kills involved lone wolves.

"Everyone always assumes wolves have the upper hand," says ecologist Mark Elbroch, the leader of Panthera's Puma Program. "But that's not always the case." (Cougars are interchangeably referred to as pumas and mountain lions.)

Washington’s first known wolf death by cougars, in 2013, was an underweight yearling female traveling on a ridgeline in the Cascade Mountains. A cougar killed another wolf in the same Teanaway pack, a two-year-old male, in March 2014, near a creek. It happened again, a month later: a six-year-old breeding male of the Smackout pack, within sight of the den. Researchers also documented more recent cougar kills: a seven-year-old female wolf in 2019, the yearling female in early September of last year, and then a wolf pup later that month.

A Clue From Tracking Tools

Radio collars tipped off biologists to this trend. "The use of collars certainly brings some of these stories to light," says Dan Stahler, a biologist who leads wolf and cougar research in Yellowstone National Park. When an animal doesn't move for eight hours, its collar sends a signal. Scientists hustle to retrieve the collar and piece together what happened.

Investigators first look for signs of poaching by humans, a common cause of death. They also examine the scene for animal tracks, scat, and the wolf’s body positioning. A neatly hidden carcass suggests a cougar, while a mess of scattered limbs could be another wolf. Biologists then take the wolf carcass, or sometimes just its head, back to the lab for more tests. Necropsies reveal the distinct cougar signature: two punctures in the skull.

When the two species interact, it tends to be over prey, but only one of Washington's documented wolf mortalities by a cougar involved a moose carcass—a messy situation where researchers believe a cougar killed a wolf pup while its pack was feeding on a moose.

All but one of Washington's documented wolf kills by cougars involved lone wolves. The state counts around 216 wolves in 37 packs, mostly in the Cascade Range and its wooded northeastern corner, where this pack is located. Photograph Via WDFW

Could Terrain Be Key?

Interactions between wolves and cougars appear to vary by habitat. Researchers found wolves killing numerous cougar kittens in the Teton Range, and a 2020 study there found wolves affected cougar populations more than recreational hunting or prey availability. Cougars fatally attacking wolves, lead author Elbroch says, is "the rarer of the two potential outcomes."

But biologists haven't documented wolf kills of cougars or their kittens in Washington. And while wolves have killed a few cougars and kittens in neighboring Yellowstone National Park, researchers found wolves didn't have a major effect on cougar populations there. In fact, cougars continued to increase in number following wolf reintroduction.

Data collected in Yellowstone before, during, and after wolf reintroduction provides a window into how the species have found a way to warily coexist by partitioning the landscape. Cougars shrunk their home ranges as wolves expanded in the park, selecting areas that were craggier, steeper, and more densely forested.

"This is what allows them to be more sneaky, to work their way through and still survive in this landscape that's dominated by wolves and bears," says Toni Ruth, a biologist who studied cougars there from 1998 to 2006 for the Hornocker Wildlife Institute. Wolves hunting in packs prefer open country where they can outrun, tire, and surround their prey.

Wolf tracks on a Washington road. Wolves generally prefer open areas such as meadows while cougars inhabit craggy ravines and forests. One theory holds that Washington's landscape may be giving cougars an upper hand, though this hasn't yet been formally studied. Photograph Via WDFW

Without a large enough sample size to draw more definitive conclusions, Roussin suggests habitat differences could help explain Washington's higher wolf mortality from cougars. The state has steep mountains, tight ravines, and fewer open rolling meadows—which might give cougars an upper hand. Experts say other factors could be at play too, like cougar density, wolf pack size, or even wolves' relative newness to an area. Roussin plans a formal analysis if more incidents occur.

Meanwhile wolves and cougars will continue overlapping, as they have for thousands of years. "These two species coexisted a heck of a long time before we began interfering with things," Elbroch says.

As wolves newly repopulate in areas such as Oregon and California, a better understanding of how they interact with other species, including us, is key. "We're in an era of carnivore restoration in the western U.S. that's unprecedented," Stahler says. "The big question that's unanswered is how do we as humans fit into that story."

[typhlonectes]

Washington state is at it again.

The state's years-long killing spree of endangered wolves continues at a disgusting pace. On Wednesday the state authorized the killing of wolves from the Smackout pack and approved taking out the mother and remaining pup from the Togo pack.

In September a helicopter sniper gunned down the sole adult male wolf of the Togo pack, pictured above. He was the father of two pups and left behind his mate to fend for them on her own. Now Washington is gunning for her.

And since 2012 the state has killed 21 state-endangered wolves — 17 of which were killed for the same rancher.

Killing wolves is not just cruel and inhumane. It also leads to more conflicts, breaks up wolf families and reduces social tolerance for wolves.

Sign our petition to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee demanding an end to the killing.

[scottbcrowley2]

Lethal removal of wolves authorized for Smackout Pack - Thu, 20 Jul 2017 PST

A wolf pack in northeastern Washington recently associated with a fourth confirmed attack on livestock since September – despite the presence of range riders – has triggered a protocol that authorizes lethal removal, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Lethal removal of wolves authorized for Smackout Pack - Thu, 20 Jul 2017 PST

[rjzimmerman]

republican anti-wolf mania continues, this time helped by two eager democrats

From the Center for Biological Diversity:

In the State of Washington:

Officials in Washington state plan to kill members of the Smackout wolf pack, an operation that will likely mean the deaths of pups just born this year. The order was issued after a calf was injured by one or more wolves on public grazing land in Stevens County.

Killing 3-month-old wolf pups is an appalling way to tackle this problem. Instead of gunning down wild wolves, state officials should be ramping up nonlethal conflict-prevention measures. Moving cattle away from known wolf activity would be a far better solution.

The Senate, in the budget process, stripping away protections for wolves in the Great Lakes region and Wyoming. The reason for approval by two Democrat Senators, one from Maryland and one from Delaware, is that the bill approved also reinstates funding for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. So, in their understandable interest to protect their Chesapeake Bay, they threw wolves under the bus.

n the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee this week, two Democratic senators — Maryland's Ben Cardin and Delaware's Tom Carper — voted with John Barrasso and other Republicans to approve a deceptively named bill, the HELP Wildlife Act, that would strip protection from thousands of endangered wolves in the Great Lakes region and Wyoming.

It would also prevent the EPA from addressing lead pollution's impacts on fish and other wildlife.

"Democrats need to solidify their conservation legacies, not help Trump and the Republican party destroy the environment," said the Center's Jamie Pang.

[earthfirstjournal]

Washington State to Kill More Wolves to Protect Livestock

Washington State to Kill More Wolves to Protect Livestock

by Lynda V Mapes / The Seattle Times The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife intends to kill wolves in the Smackout Pack in Stevens County beginning this week to protect two ranchers’ cattle grazing on public land. The department’s intention is to kill members of the pack that has repeatedly preyed on livestock in Stevens County since 2015, said Jim Unsworth, the department’s…

[northshoregadgets]

Massive Lawsuit Filed On Monday Challenges Wolf Killing In Washington

Massive Lawsuit Filed On Monday Challenges Wolf Killing In Washington

On Monday, conservation groups filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and its director, James Unsworth, from killing any more state-endangered wolves. Filed on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity and Cascadia Wildlands, the lawsuit asserts that the agency’s killing of wolves from the Smackout and Sherman packs in northeastern Washington relied…

[xftlowx]

I just received a general cookie cutter email reply in regards to the SMACKOUT wolf pack:

I just received a general cookie cutter email reply in regards to the SMACKOUT wolf pack:

Dear Interested Party,

Thank you for contacting the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to express your concerns about plans to remove some members of the Smackout wolf pack in Stevens County. We are unable to respond individually to every message, but we believe the information below will address the issues you raised.

WDFW is committed to the recovery of gray wolves in Washington…

[whatsourvectorvictor-blog]

Has the Range Rider Project Run Its Course?

In their September 26, 2016 blog post titled “Statement on livestock depredation by Smackout Wolf Pack”, Conservation Northwest examines two recently confirmed calf depredation incidents involving wolves from Smackout pack. 

While I appreciate that the group acknowledges that efforts such as ranch riding programs “are not always going to be 100% successful”, I wonder if we are missing an overall concern that these wolves are becoming desensitized to human presence. 

The article contends that ranchers had increased their presence in recent weeks after discovering that younger wolves were testing the calves. In the face of these increased riding patrols, including people on foot, horseback, and riding ATVs, the pack still killed two calves. Is this a sign that the effectiveness of this program is fading? 

[gryphon9]

Washington wolf activities go beyond Profanity Peak pack

Washington wolf activities go beyond Profanity Peak pack

September 26, 2016 ~ Source

Washington wildlife managers say they are continuing to search for the surviving members of the Profanity Peak pack in the Colville National Forest, a hunt now on its eighth week.

Meanwhile, wolves in another northeastern Washington pack last week killed a calf, and a wolf was legally harvested on the Spokane Tribe of Indians reservation, according to the state…

[typhlonectes]

Stop the Slaughter of Washington's Wolves

Washington state is at it again.

The state's years-long killing spree of endangered wolves continues at a disgusting pace. On Wednesday the state authorized the killing of wolves from the Smackout pack and approved taking out the mother and remaining pup from the Togo pack.

In September a helicopter sniper gunned down the sole adult male wolf of the Togo pack, pictured above. He was the father of two pups and left behind his mate to fend for them on her own. Now Washington is gunning for her.

And since 2012 the state has killed 21 state-endangered wolves — 17 of which were killed for the same rancher.

Killing wolves is not just cruel and inhumane. It also leads to more conflicts, breaks up wolf families and reduces social tolerance for wolves.

Sign our petition to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee demanding an end to the killing:

CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

[xftlowx]

Wolves need our help NOW!

Wolves need our help NOW!

I need some people willing to draw up some emails and/or petitions in regards to fighting for the Smackout Pack and other wolf packs in the future!

The people that need to be addressed are:

Jim Unsworth Address: PO Box 43200 Olympia, WA 98504-3200 Telephone: (360) 902-2200 Fax: (360) 902-2947 Email: director

and

Donny Martorello Wolf Policy Lead Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 360-902-2…

[xftlowx]

Protecting the Smackout Wolf Pack -

Protecting the Smackout Wolf Pack –

Believe it or not I was nice last year towards Donny Martorello & his decision to kill the Profanity Peak wolf pack! Now he wants to destroy the Smackout wolf pack! Well, he won’t like me very much now because I’ve had more than enough bullshit when it comes to assholes like him who only think about GREED/POWER! I will do ANYTHING/EVERYTHING I can to help protect the SMACKOUT wolf pack as well as…

[xftlowx]

Help save the Smackout wolf pack - CONTACT DONNY MARTORELLO

Help save the Smackout wolf pack – CONTACT DONNY MARTORELLO

Donny Martorello wants to kill another Washington wolf pack based on last years depredations… source: http://protectthewolves.com/washington-to-kill-members-of-wolf-pack-in-stevens-county/

Confirmed wolf depredation by Sherman Wolf Pack…

source: http://protectthewolves.com/confirmed-wolf-depredation-by-sherman-wolf-pack/

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The state of Washington plans to kill some members of…