WALLOWA COUNTY — State officials have confirmed that the Bear Creek Pack of wolves was responsible for two attacks on livestock during the last week of August that killed a 7-month-old calf and injured 5-month-old calf in northern Wallowa County.

The dead calf was confirmed Aug. 27 by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to have been killed along Deer Creek on public land. The injured calf was confirmed Aug. 25 to have been attacked on private land along Bear Creek.

These are the first attacks in Wallowa County confirmed by ODFW since July 8, when a 4-month-old calf was confirmed as injured by wolves along Bear Creek by the Bear Creek Pack. The same pack was confirmed to have injured a 4-month-old calf the previous day on private land in the same area.

But the Bear Creek Pack hasn’t been alone in its predation this summer. On July 3, the ODFW confirmed that the Wildcat Pack killed a 4-month-old calf along Grossman Creek on private land.

Also, unknown wolf or wolves were deemed responsible June 29 for the death of a 2-month-old lamb on private land in the Lostine area. A dead yearling sheep and a dead ewe were confirmed as having been killed by unknown wolves earlier in June in the Lostine area, as well as two dead ewes killed in the Sled Springs Wildlife Management Unit along Swamp Creek on private land on June 3.

Wolves in the Lostine area struck again May 27 on private land, killing a 7-month-old lamb.

The two August attacks by the Bear Creek Pack are the 19th either confirmed or probable attacks by wolves in Wallowa County in 2024.