By Brett Prettyman
The Salt Lake Tribune

A recent rash of sheep killings in northern Utah has the Division of Wildlife Services thinking wolf, but director Mike Bodenchuk stops just short of labeling the culprit, citing a lack of physical or visual evidence.

"I cannot confirm the presence of a wolf there. The killings suggest a wolf and I am comfortable saying it is a large canine," Bodenchuk said. "I can say it wasn't a coyote or a bear or a lion."

Eleven sheep have been killed in about a 6-mile radius near the town of Woodruff. The most recent was a single killing Aug. 22. Woodruff is not far from where two wolves were shot in Wyoming in March for killing livestock.

With no tracks, hair or witnesses, Bodenchuk is careful about placing blame, but he says he is swayed by several factors.

"The fact it is close to where the others were shot and because the animals were killed in a similar pattern consistent with wolf damage leads me to believe it was a wolf," he said.

Bodenchuk said wolves, being pack animals, attack the flanks of their prey, while other canine predators such as coyotes go for the throat and head areas. A nearly 40-pound calf was all but consumed, something more typical of a wolf than a coyote. Adding to the confusion is that the other dead sheep were covered with bites, but not really fed upon.

"That is pretty classic of a [domestic or hybrid] dog," said Ed Bangs, the wolf recovery leader in the northern Rockies for the Fish and Wildlife Service. "We have had a number of wolf/dog hybrids released in the wild in that area. What typically happens is they come around and then they vanish because they starve to death, somebody runs them over or another predator kills them. That could have been the situation in this case. If it was a wolf and it moved on, it would be killing sheep somewhere else."

DWS employees flew over the kill areas twice, including the day after the latest attack, but failed to spot a wolf.

Contrary to Bangs' belief that it was probably a dog doing the killing, Bodenchuk says the fact the animal cannot be found confirms it was probably a wolf.

"The nature of the wolf is here today and gone tomorrow. It doesn't surprise me that we can't find it," he said.

Bodenchuk, who has the authority to kill a wolf if he believes it is killing livestock, said the hunt for the sheep killer will continue.

Bangs pointed out that the wolf was downlisted on the Endangered Species List in April from endangered to threatened, and citizens now have the right to kill a wolf if they see it attacking livestock, herding or guarding animals and domestic dogs.

Regardless of whether the issue in Woodruff is resolved, DWS biologists say they expect to hear more on the wolf front in the coming months. Adam Kozlowski, a sensitive-species biologist in the division's northern region, said during the summer he received about one wolf sighting report a month.

"Things will pick up during the dispersal season, which is typically between November and February," Kozlowski said.

In addition to the problem wolves killed in Wyoming east of Bear Lake in March, there were several reports of sightings in Logan Canyon from Highway 89 near the Beaver Mountain Ski Area last winter. None, though, was confirmed.

The appearance of a wolf in a coyote trap near Morgan in November proved that wolves have discovered Utah.

"Wolves & People, Seeking Common Ground" is a six-part lecture series beginning Wednesday at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City.

The free lectures are sponsored by the Wallace Stegner Center, the Utah Museum of Natural History and Red Butte Garden.

The first lecture comes from filmmakers Jim and Jamie Dutcher, who spent six years filming a wolf pack in Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains.

The Sept. 24 lecture will be held at the Marriott Library Gould Auditorium on the University of Utah campus and will deal with the legal issues involved with the dispersal of wolves into Utah.

Ed Bangs, gray wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will talk about the restoration of wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming on Oct. 1 at the Marriott Library.

Biologist Paul Paquet will discuss the role of the wolf in ecosystems at the Oct. 8 lecture, which will also be held at the Marriott Library.

A third-generation livestock operator from Idaho will discuss issues the reintroduction of wolves have brought to the ranching community at the Oct. 15 lecture at the Marriott Library.

The series finale will include a panel discussion addressing the issues of managing wolves in Utah from local speakers with multiple points of view on the subject. It will be held Oct. 22 at Red Butte Garden.

-- Brett Prettyman