Three Surviving Sheep Mountain Pack Wolves Released

The three surviving male wolves from the now defunct Sheep Mountain pack were released from Ted Turner's Flying D Ranch on Tuesday.

The three wolves were released back into their old home territory after spending nearly six months in captivity undergoing aversive conditioning with shock collars.

According to wolf recovery team coordinator Ed Bangs, the wolves completed the experimental therapy without harming any calves that were placed in the pen with them.

It is hoped that these wolves will have learned to avoid livestock and hopefully teach their future offspring to do the same.

Although this article neglects to mention what will happen to these wolves if they return to killing livestock, it is a certainty that they will be destroyed.

Click Here to read story in the Billings Gazette.

Shocked wolves set free to roam

By The Associated Press

LIVINGSTON (AP)

Three wolves from a pack with a history of killing livestock have been released in the wild after undergoing an experimental program in which they were shocked if they approached cattle.

The adult males, the last remaining members of the Sheep Mountain Pack, were released Tuesday in their home range north of Dailey Lake.

Wildlife managers killed six other members of the pack in the past year after they were linked to a series of livestock killings in the area. One female died in captivity in June during the experiment.

The animals were trapped in May and placed in a half-acre pen on a ranch owned by media mogul Ted Turner near Livingston.

As part of an experimental aversion program, each wolf was fitted with electronic collars that delivered a shock whenever it approached a cow hide or calf placed in the pen.

Val Asher, a wildlife biologist for the Ted Turner Endangered Species Fund which paid for the project, called the experiment a success, but said there are no guarantees the animals won't attack livestock again.

Ed Bangs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's wolf recovery coordinator, said if the wolves do kill in the future, federal wildlife managers likely will be forced to shoot them.

"In an area like this, we may have a place where wolves can't make it," Bangs said Tuesday.

The wolves, all equipped with radio collars to track their movements, were released on private property just north of Dailey Lake.

Two of the wolves, at first reluctant to leave their aluminum crates, trotted away with their heads cocked back looking at the small crowd before running over a nearby ridgeline toward the Six Mile Creek drainage.

A third wolf, a 2-year-old black male, remained under the effect of the tranquilizers and was slow to leave the area before finally being chased off by Asher.

A group of about 15 people attended Tuesday's release, including ranchers, outfitters and a state representative who are concerned with the federal wolf program.

"Wolves affect these people's livelihood and the way of life in this valley and they feel they're not being heard," said Rep. John Esp, R-Big Timber, one of those who attended the release.

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?section=local&display=content/local/roamingwolves.inc