Chesnimnus Pack Blamed For Wallowa County Depredation

Earlier this week, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife crews were called out to the first depredation reported in roughly a month. On the afternoon of Monday April 25^th after a livestock owner found the remains of a two-month-old, 170 lb. calf in a privately owned 850-acre pasture in the Crow Creek area of Wallowa County. The carcass was intact except for feeding at the stomach. The calf was estimated to have died 24-48 hours earlier.

The carcass was shaved, skinned and examined.  There were more than 20 pre-mortem tooth scrapes on the hindquarters and below the anus up to ¼” wide and 2½” long.   Underlying tissue trauma and hemorrhage extended up to an inch deep.  There were premortem tooth punctures on shoulders and elbows, including tissue damage 1¾” deep.

ODFW said the size and location of the bite wounds and severity of trauma are similar to those observed in other calves attacked by wolves.

This week’s depredation was attributed to the Chesnimnus Pack.

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