BUTTE, Mont. (AP) -- Wildlife officials say they shot three wolves last week that repeatedly targeted sheep in the Blacktail Valley south of Dillon.
Carolyn Sime, wolf program coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, says the wolves killed four adult ewes. Trappers spotted four wolves in the area and shot three of them. The other escaped.
Sime says the wolves also killed five ewes and four lambs in the area in June, despite a rancher's efforts to keep them away with dogs and herders.
The attacks occurred on the property of the same rancher who lost more than 120 sheep to wolves in a single attack. State officials later removed the entire Sage Creek pack.
Meanwhile, The Montana Standard reports that a wolf or wolves killed two calves in the Pipestone area southeast of Butte. There are no known packs in the area, but wildlife officials say the calves could have been killed by a wandering wolf.
