Oregon Public Broadcasting

Federal wildlife officials confirm a wolf or a pack of wolves were responsible for killing lambs at a ranch east of Baker City last week. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports.

Oregon Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Michelle Dennehy says investigators at the ranch found telltale signs of wolves.

That makes this the first reported case of a wolf killing in Oregon since the animals were reintroduced into the Rocky Mountain states.

The killing comes just as the gray wolf is about to come off the Endangered Species List on May fourth. But it will still have state protection in Oregon.

Dennehy says that limits how farmers can respond to wolf attacks.

Michelle Dennehy: “Livestock producers cannot remove a wolf caught in the act of attacking without a permit.”

She says they can, however, work with state wildlife officials to discourage wolves from future attacks.

Oregon does not compensate ranchers who lose animals to wolves, as other states like Idaho do. But the animal rights group, Defenders of Wildlife, says it does pay ranchers to make up for their loss.