Friday, October 30, 2009

Wolf killed likely a Phantom Hill member

Total number of wolves killed in Idaho reaches 80


By JON DUVAL
Express Staff Writer

According to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, a fifth wolf killed in the Southern Mountains zone last week was likely a member of the Phantom Hill pack. That would mean that two wolves from the pack have been killed since the hunt opened in the zone Oct. 1.

The wolf was shot Tuesday, Oct. 20, near Galena Summit, according to Fish and Game's Magic Valley Regional Biologist Regan Berkley. Berkley declined to divulge the exact location of the shooting, but said that it was within the Phantom Hill pack's home range, which stretches from around Trail Creek north to Alturas Lake.

She said the male wolf was black, one of the notable traits about the wolves in that pack.

Berkley said the area is home to another wolf pack known as the Galena pack. However, she said Fish and Game doesn't have a "great idea" of the composition of that pack, nor its current location.

"We don't know for sure, but [the location of the kill] was at the northern part of the Phantom Hill pack's territory," Berkley said. "They definitely spend time up there."

Another member of the Phantom Hill pack was killed at the beginning of the month, leaving an estimated eight or nine remaining.

The Department of Fish and Game has set a harvest limit of 10 wolves in the Southern Mountains zone, which includes the Wood River Valley and extends east across the Pioneer, White Knob, Lost River, Lemhi and Beaverhead mountain ranges to the Montana border.

As of Thursday, 80 wolves had been killed in Idaho since the hunt began. The quota for the state is 220, with the majority of the hunting in the 12 zones closing on Dec. 31. In the Lolo and Sawtooth zones, with quotas of 27 and 55, respectively, the hunts close March 31.

According to the Fish and Game Web site, the harvest limits are being approached in a number of the zones. In the Upper Snake zone, four wolves have been killed, leaving one before the quota is reached. In the Palouse-Hells Canyon zone, the limit is five and hunters have taken two. And in the McCall-Weiser zone, 13 of 15 wolves have been taken.

Jon Duval: jduval@mtexpress.com




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