PRAIRIE CITY — The Logan Valley wolves have struck again, killing a calf and injuring a cow in the Blue Mountains a few miles east of Prairie City.

An 8-month-old calf was killed late on Nov. 16 or early on Nov. 17 in a private pasture on Dan’s Creek, according to the latest wolf depredation report released by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. An adult cow was injured at the same time or shortly thereafter, in the same pasture.

ODFW investigators attributed both attacks to the Logan Valley Pack.

“There have been five separate confirmed depredation incidents in the last seven months (by the Logan Valley wolves) resulting in four injured cows, one injured calf and three dead calves,” said Ryan Platte, an assistant wildlife biologist with ODFW’s John Day Field Office.

The Logan Valley Pack is believed to consist of an alpha male, an alpha female and four pups, Platte said. The pack’s territory stretches in an arc from the upper John Day Valley east of Prairie City, and from there to the south and west into Logan Valley.

Platte said the rancher victimized in the most recent attacks had been using nonlethal deterrents to keep wolves at bay.

“They had been keeping their cattle closer to their house and in a smaller pasture, as well,” he said.

“Those are two things we recommend if possible producers do to protect their livestock.”

Other livestock producers in the area have also been practicing deterrent measures, Platte said, from increasing human presence in their pastures and not using pastures where there has been wolf activity to removing attractants such as dead cattle and using fox lights, which mimic human activity by turning on lights at staggered intervals during nighttime hours.

In addition, he said, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services Division has been using drones to haze wolves in the area.

In spite of all that, however, the Logan Valley wolves have continued to prey on livestock. As a result, the four producers who have experienced depredations in the past have a joint permit allowing them to kill one wolf from the Logan Valley Pack.

That permit will expire at the end of the year but could be extended if there are any additional attacks this month, Platte said. It could also be reissued if there are new attacks after the first of the year.

A juvenile male belonging to the Logan Valley Pack was killed by ODFW staff in August. 

Another wolf from the pack was shot and killed by an unknown person without a permit in May. That incident, which occurred on private land about 11 miles southwest of Prairie City, remains under investigation by the Oregon State Police, Platte said.