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The dispute between dominant species over shared habitat in the West is escalating. The proposal emphasizes continued protections for endangered species, and it states that such measures "shall be directed at the offending animal" while not jeopardizing the "viability of predator populations." The "offending animal" is the one perceived as a threat to people and livestock. There now are more than 1,000 wolves in the Northern Rockies region. In Idaho alone, the offspring of 35 Canadian wolves now number more than 500. Their main prey are...deer and elk. But they have attacked domestic animals as well...through 2005...( at least )...

State wildlife officials take too long to authorize the killing of problem wolves, ranchers and others said Friday at a meeting of the agency oversight committee of the Environmental Quality Council. "It's like a guy's robbing a bank and you have to go get an arrest warrant,"... "It doesn't make a lot of sense." More than 50 people attended the meeting that drew Fish, Wildlife and Parks Director Jeff Hagener, agency biologists and several state legislators. People from Idaho and Wyoming and members of anti-wolf groups pushing for indiscriminate killing of the predators also attended. A few members of conservation...

Facts from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about wolves in Park County and northwest Wyoming include: There are at least 75 wolves in at least nine packs in Park County. Two additional packs are suspected but they haven't yet been confirmed. Final cattle depredation numbers won't be available until the end of the year. Wolf numbers this year have increased in Wyoming... There are about 143 wolves in Yellowstone Park in 14 packs. There's about 166 wolves in Wyoming outside Yellowstone Park in 17-20 packs. Idaho has about 650 wolves in 70 packs. Numbers from Montana this year are...

Owning a slice of paradise isn't what it used to be. Generations of ranchers on the rural fringes of Yellowstone National Park passed their land to offspring or sold it to like-minded people. "only 26 percent of buyers were "traditional ranchers"... The largest category, at 39 percent, were "amenity buyers," ... The new buyers often arrive with a different set of values from those who have family ties stretching back generations... Contrary to what some might think, developers bought only 6 percent... The study area, though, didn't include fast-developing areas in Gallatin County, Mont., and Jackson Hole. In many cases,...

An environmental group went to court Thursday in an effort to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to expand a program to reintroduce the endangered Mexican gray wolf in New Mexico and Arizona. The Center for Biological Diversity, which has offices in both states, alleged in a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., that Fish and Wildlife has refused to implement recommendations of a scientific panel that reviewed the program. Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Vickie Fox of the agency's Albuquerque office said federal officials haven't had a chance to review the lawsuit and do not in general comment...

The head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday his agency will start removing federal protection from gray wolves in Montana and Idaho by January, regardless of whether Wyoming has submitted an acceptable plan to manage its own wolves by then. Wyoming's plan is tied up in lawsuits, and Fish and Wildlife Director Dale Hall said his agency is moving ahead with Idaho and Montana, where management plans are already in place. ( Canadian ) Wolves were reintroduced to the northern Rocky Mountains a decade ago after being hunted to near-extinction, and now number more than 1,200 in...

Residents in Bingham County have started a local chapter of the Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition, which is collecting signatures to once again try to get an initiative to ban gray wolves from Idaho on the ballot. The group failed to gather enough signatures to get a similar initiative on the ballot last year. Coalition Chairman Ron Gillett of Stanley said the group's new goal is to gather 100,000 signatures. He also has instructed petition carriers to make certain that everyone who signs is a registered voter. In 2006, the group collected more than 40,000 signatures in six weeks before running out...

There are now at least 1,300 wolves prowling Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, far more than anyone imagined when the species was reintroduced in the Northern Rockies 12 years ago. The wolf population has, on average, grown by about 26 percent a year for the past decade. The latest estimates, which summarize counts completed at the end of 2006, show they aren't slowing down. "I keep thinking we're at the top end of the bubble," said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "I can't see that there's room for any more, but we'll see." As...

Five-year-old Brayden Gazette was crossing a neighbor's lawn near his Monmouth County home last month when a coyote burst out of the pine woods and bit him on the head. Twenty-month-old Liam Sadler was in a relative's backyard in April when a coyote grabbed him by the neck and tried to drag him off. The rare daylight coyote attacks on humans were interrupted before the yellow-eyed beasts could kill. Nevertheless, brazen coyotes have rattled residents across North Jersey's Monmouth and Bergen Counties, where scores of sightings have been reported and where numerous pets have been killed or mauled this spring....

Catron County Manager Bill Aymar says officials only want to prevent problems by asking the federal government to remove a pregnant female Mexican gray wolf released on the county's border after it killed two cows elsewhere. But Victoria Fox, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, says the agency has no reason to remove the wolf. The dispute over the animal -- designated F924 -- began as soon as it was released April 25 in southwestern New Mexico. The next day, the county demanded it be removed as an "imminent danger." Fish and Wildlife rejected the demand last...

A Bitterroot Valley, Mont., rancher who lost several calves to wolves spent the night in his car to guard his herd, and shot a wolf as it moved among his cattle. "There were all these black shapes, cows running everywhere," said Ed Cummings, who was awakened at 4:30 a.m. on June 5 by his dog's growling. "And right in the middle of them, just sort of trotting around, is this wolf." Cummings lost his shoe while trying to get out of the compact car, keep an eye on the wolf and grab the rifle he'd borrowed. "I didn't make a...

'They were not afraid of us,' woman says. Neither the three women nor their dogs heard the pack of wolves creeping up behind them as they jogged on Artillery Road in the frigid morning air. One minute it was peaceful. Then she glanced back and saw the pack of about eight wolves spanning the road, only a few feet behind. A melee ensued, accompanied by screaming, snarling, blood and pepper spray. "It was the most terrifying thing I've ever been through."... The increasingly emboldened Elmendorf wolf pack is blamed for killing one dog and wounding another in Eagle River this...

More endangered Mexican gray wolves have been targeted for removal from the Gila National Forest in southwestern New Mexico. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ... The wolf reintroduction program requires the permanent removal of any wolf linked to three livestock killings a year ... Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Elizabeth Slown says the Aspen Pack has killed a horse and five cows since the beginning of the year.

NEW YORK - Sixty-five years after an American P-38 fighter plane ran out of gas and crash-landed on a beach in Wales, the long-forgotten World War II relic has emerged from the surf and sand where it lay buried. Beach strollers, sunbathers and swimmers often frolicked within a few yards of the aircraft, unaware of its existence until last summer, when unusual weather caused the sand to shift and erode. The revelation of the Lockheed "Lightning" fighter, with its distinctive twin-boom design, has stirred interest in British aviation circles and among officials of the country's aircraft museums, ready to reclaim...

MARSHALL: Dogs not vaccinated for disease should be euthanized. A wolf killed during an attack on sled dogs in the Yukon River village of Marshall last week has tested positive for rabies, and state officials Wednesday night said unvaccinated dogs in the village should be euthanized. The wolf was part of a pack that killed a half-dozen dogs the night of Oct. 24 before villagers chased them out, killing the one wolf and wounding others. Tests returned late Wednesday showed that animal had rabies, and the state's wildlife veterinarian said it's possible other wolves in the pack also have the...

A kayaker's life-and-death struggle with a hungry wolf on B.C.'s remote north coast... has prompted a conservation officer to warn against taking wolf encounters too lightly. "This was a predatory wolf attack," conservation officer James Zucchelli confirmed in an interview from his Bella Coola Valley office. "That fellow was perceived as a prey source. He was attacked with intent to eat. The wolf saw him and took off running at him." the attack reinforces the fact that wolves are predators and capable of attacking humans under certain circumstances... The fit, 31-year-old Port Moody kayaker was setting up his tent on...

A pack of wolves killed about a half-dozen sled dogs from three teams in Marshall on Wednesday night before residents of the Yukon River village chased them out of town, according to village officials and Alaska State Troopers. The wolves killed three adult dogs, including a female with pups, several villagers said. About three of the pups were also killed and several other dogs injured. "They were running through the whole town here," said Dewayne Cooper, the housing improvement officer for the Native Village of Marshall. "They're not just hanging out by the dog teams. I don't know what they're...

Last week, the body of 22-year-old Kenton Joel Carnegie was found near Wollaston Lake in Northern Saskatchewan mauled to death by what is suspected to have been wolves. "All of the injuries discovered in the autopsy are consistent with animal bites. But you can't completely rule everything out until the investigation is complete," Heather Russel, spokesperson for the RCMP told CBC. Although the type of animal bite has not been confirmed, suspicions run high that they were that of wolves. Tracks were found near the body, and locals have been reporting a growing number of close encounters with wolves. Carnegie...

The US Fish and Wildlife Service says a pack of endangered Mexican gray wolves has killed a horse belonging to a Catron County family. Mark Miller and his family returned to their homestead on the Diamond Creek in southwestern New Mexico about three weeks ago to find the remains of their horse. Tracks show the wolves apparently chased the horse from a pasture into a corral and killed it. Miller says his family has tried yelling at the wolves, throwing rocks and installing noisemakers, but he says the pack continues to be a problem.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Courtney Fells scored 21 points to lead North Carolina State to an 83-79 upset of No. 3 North Carolina on Saturday, giving Sidney Lowe his first big win as the Wolfpack's coach. Ben McCauley had 17 points and Gavin Grant added 16 for North Carolina State (13-8, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), which led by 12 and held off the Tar Heels' frantic comeback bid.