Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife officials confirmed wolf OR158 was lethally removed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Feb. 26. This is the wolf that prompted the Lake County (Oregon) Board of Commissioners to declare a public safety and livestock emergency in the wake of livestock depredations.

According to the agency, OR158, was removed following multiple unsuccessful attempts at non-lethal deterrence and increasing concerns about public safety and was taken as a last resort. The removal of an endangered gray wolf aligns with federal regulations under the authority of 50 CFR17.21(c)(3)(iv), which provides for removing animals listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act that constitute a demonstrable but non-immediate threat to human safety. 

This lethal removal followed eight confirmed depredations and four probable depredations attributed to the wolf, extensive unsuccessful attempts at non-lethal deterrence (including range riders, spotlighting, pasture monitoring, fox lights, air cannons, non-lethal projectiles, carcass removal and drones with thermal optics), and increasing concerns about public safety. You can read the deterrence plan for OR158 to learn more about how ODFW and the other agencies had been working with producers to utilize non-lethal methods.

According to the ODFW Area-Specific Wolf Conflict Deterrence Plan released on Feb. 20, 2025, OR158 is an adult male gray wolf that was captured and GPS radio-collared southeast of Halfway, Ore., in March of 2024. OR158 dispersed into central Oregon in May 2024, continued dispersing to northern California in December, resided there for a week and returned to Oregon. Since Dec. 24, 2024, his movements have been localized in Deschutes, Crook, Lake and Klamath counties so an Area of Known Wolf Activity (AKWA) has been designated.

WOLF ACTIVITY MAPS

Though much of the information available to Oregon livestock producers is similar to that available to Colorado producers, the maps detailing wolf activity are considerably more specific in Oregon. Colorado Parks and Wildlife releases a map of collar activity based upon watersheds.

The Department investigated and confirmed the death of a 5-day-old calf in Lake County on Jan. 30, 2025. This depredation triggered the designation of an Area of Depredating Wolves (ADW) and the preparation of an Area-Specific Wolf Conflict Deterrence Plan (Deterrence Plan) to assist producers and landowners manage potential conflict with wolves. The ADW is intended to inform livestock owners where wolf-livestock conflict may occur. The AKWA, ADW, and Deterrence Plan may be modified based on depredation and wolf movements.

Wolves in this area were relisted on the Federal Endangered Species List on Feb. 10, 2022, therefore all management related to harassment and take of wolves is regulated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, not ODFW. If wolves are delisted, a notice will be posted on the ODFW website and ODFW will implement management according to the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan (Oregon Wolf Plan) and associated Oregon statute and rule, but the Deterrence Plan will not need to be updated. Current depredation information, AKWA and ADW maps, and Deterrence Plan will be updated as necessary and posted on the ODFW website.

ODFW coordination with county leaders began in 2011 when local wolf activity became known. Also involved in that communication was National Forest officials, Bureau of Land Management, APHIS Wildlife Services, Oregon State University Extension, and the county Wolf Depredation Committees.

Livestock producers, according to ODFW, were informed of the importance of bone pile removal and appropriate non-lethal measures as well as presenting the Oregon Wolf Plan, wolf current events, depredation investigation procedures, and reporting wolf activity. The Deterrence Plan, dated Feb. 19, was shared with potentially affected producers in Klamath and Lake counties, Klamath and Lake Cattlemen’s Associations, Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, Oregon Farm Bureau, Oregon Department of Agriculture, APHIS-Wildlife Services, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Wild, Defenders of Wildlife, and Western Landowner’s Alliance.