Contracted Hunter Eliminates Two Idaho Wolf Packs

KETCHUM, Idaho (AP) — A state official says the reason a professional hunter has been called out of a federal wilderness in central Idaho is because he succeeded in killing all the wolves in two packs.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game spokesman Mike Keckler tells the Idaho Mountain Express the hunter killed eight wolves with traps and a ninth by hunting. He started in mid-December. Keckler says no wolves were killed in the last several weeks in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness.

He says the agency decided it had reached its goal of eliminating the Golden Creek and Monumental Creek packs as part of a plan to bolster elk numbers. Officials announced Monday the hunter was coming out. Conservation groups had filed a lawsuit trying to stop the hunt.