Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks game wardens are seeking information on a suspected wolf poaching northwest of Gardiner.
Game wardens recovered the dead wolf near Mol Heron and Cinnabar creeks — within Wolf Management Unit 313 — and believe the poaching occurred mid-day on January 27, a full month after the quota for the unit was met.
WMU 313’s quota of six wolves was set in August 2022. The change came after the deadliest season for wolves residing primarily in Yellowstone since reintroduction, which wiped out roughly one-fifth of the population and the entirety of the Phantom Lake Pack.
The 2021-22 season’s spike in wolf killings near Yellowstone followed the state of Montana relaxing its hunting and trapping regulations for the species. Previously, the wolf hunt outside Yellowstone’s northern boundary was limited to two animals, one each from the two hunting units bordering the park. Hunters were allowed to take as many wolves from those units in the ‘21-’22 season until Region 3’s threshold of 82 wolves was met.
Wildlife and conservation groups criticized the measures, which were enacted to meet the Legislature requiring agencies decrease wolf numbers statewide.
Though the population has since rebounded, the unit quota remains at six wolves per recommendation from the park. The local tourism industry and wolf advocates also supported the move while continuing to push for preserving the economically important iconic species on a local and national level.
An emergency Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting was triggered When a fifth wolf was killed in 313 in mid-December. Commissioners decided to maintain the status quo and let the season automatically close after a sixth wolf harvest was reported, which occurred on Dec. 27.
Morgan Jacobsen, a spokesperson for FWP, said he could not provide any further information on the active investigation but encouraged any with solid, credible leads to report them to the agency either by visiting myfwp.mt.gov/fwpPub/tipmont or calling the violation reporting hot line at 1-800-TIP-MONT.
“We rely very heavily on the public to help us with investigations because they see things that oftentimes we’re not able to see,” said Jacobsen.
Informants may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000.
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