Idaho Fish and Game completed wolf control actions in northern Idaho’s Lolo elk zone to improve elk survival in the area. Seven wolves were taken during the operation, which started in late February. The operation is consistent with Fish and Game’s Elk Management Plan and Lolo Predation Management Plan.
The present day boundary of the Lolo elk Zone was established in 1992. That year, an estimated 10,120 elk inhabited the zone. Since then, this elk herd has decreased substantially because of declining vegetative quality, a catastrophic loss of elk during the 1996-1997 winter, and predation by mountain lions, black bears, and wolves. An estimated 1,893 elk were estimated in the Lolo Zone during the most recent survey in 2017.
The control operation was paid for using Fish and Game license dollars transferred to the Idaho Wolf Depredation Control Board, created by the Idaho Legislature in 2014.
Fish and Game authorizes control actions where wolves are causing conflicts with people or domestic animals, or are a significant, measured factor in deer and elk population declines. Such control actions are consistent with Idaho’s 2002 Wolf Conservation and Management Plan approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Idaho Legislature.
Find more information here.
(Photo source: Idaho Department of Fish and Game)