Wolf attacks are suspected in the recent killing of 23 sheep on private pasture land in Oregon’s Curry County.

The discovery of the sheep carcasses comes on the heels of U.S. wildlife officials saying they plan to lift protections for gray wolves. The animals often prey on livestock, and so farmers and ranchers aggressively hunted them until the wolves received endangered-species protection in 1975.

Gray wolves had become extinct in Oregon by the mid-1940s, says the conservation group Oregon Wild. When federal protection took hold 30 years later, only about 1,000 remained in the contiguous U.S., all in Minnesota.

More than 5,000 now roam the country.

The sheep deaths in Curry County are sure to ratchet up concerns among ranchers and farmers in the area.

“Biologists determined the deaths were caused by a ‘probable’ wolf attack, but [they] could upgrade the ruling to ‘confirmed’ if they can positively identify the culprit on camera,” Salem-based Capital Press reports.

Oregon has 124 wolves, based on a 2017 count, and while none are known to be in Curry County, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf coordinator John Stephenson said wolves “travel such long distances, they can show up just about anywhere."

In January, OPB reported, environmental groups walked away from “stakeholder” talks with ranchers, hunters and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, saying the “process is so broken” there was no point in continuing. The talks sought input on the effort to update Oregon’s plan for managing the state’s wolf population.

-- Douglas Perry

@douglasmperry

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