A wolf at the fence line<\/p>\n
On the Flynn family farm in Southern Oregon, video shows Wolf 158 standing over one of rancher Tom Flynn\u2019s calves, moments after killing it. Just a few feet away, the calf\u2019s mother stands over her dead young, watching in visible distress.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/PKG.00_00_06_21.Still001.jpg\")
Oregon Wolf 158 (left) feet away after killing a mother cow’s calf (right)<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/PKG.00_00_24_11.Still002.jpg\")
Wolf 158 after Tom Flynn confronts it after killing calf<\/p>\n
Flynn recalls the encounter bluntly: \u201cHe just killed one. He has no fear of me. There are more babies out there, just within a couple of hundred yards of him.\u201d <\/p>\n
For weeks, the gray wolf stalked the Flynn family\u2019s livestock, leaving them in constant fear.<\/p>\n
Fish and Wildlife officers camped out on the property, using every non-lethal method allowed by law to capture and relocate the wolf, but he says nothing worked. At one point he noted, \u201cWell, that\u2019s nice\u2014he\u2019s heading right for the feed ground where there\u2019s a bunch of baby calves, and it\u2019s just half a mile behind the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eventually, more than a dozen of the Flynns\u2019 calves were killed before authorities euthanized the animal. <\/a>\u201cAfter a three-week period,\u201d Flynn said, \u201cit finally came back to what I could have done in the first five minutes of encountering that wolf.\u201d<\/p>\n Ranchers back the delisting push<\/p>\n Rep. Cliff Bentz, a Republican who serves Oregon\u2019s 2nd Congressional District, backs the change. \u201cI think the Trump administration is exactly right,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Bentz argues that, for rural ranchers, wolves are not an abstract conservation question but a direct threat to their livelihood.<\/p>\n Bentz says ranchers lose more than calves to wolves\u2014chronic stress from\u00a0stalking leads to fewer pregnancies in herds<\/a>. Some conservation groups, however,\u00a0question those claims.<\/a> <\/p>\n Bents also emphasized that ranchers are not compensated for lower pregnancy rates from their cattle, “We want to have these apex predators running around wreaking havoc, then those who want it that way have to pay for it, period,” Bentz emphasized in an interview with the Problem Solvers.<\/p>\n Farmers and ranchers, meanwhile, remain frustrated by repeated livestock losses, despite increased state investment in non-lethal deterrents and compensation. Though ranchers can be compensated for calves confirmed killed by wolves, the process can take time and does not cover livestock deaths that wildlife officials can\u2019t directly verify.<\/p>\n \u201cA wolf is a killing machine. It is truly in the business of killing,\u201d Bentz said. \u201cOn the one hand, we\u2019re busy trying to make sure we have food and driving down food prices. On the other hand, we\u2019re busy encouraging wolves. Wow, what a crazy thing.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that many ranchers in places like Eastern Oregon are already operating on thin margins. \u201cWhat we ought to be doing is just trying to figure out how to make sure that those folks who, for the last hundred years, have eked out a living in these marginal spaces, like Eastern Oregon, for example, don\u2019t have to bear another burden, such as wolves killing their livestock.\u201d<\/p>\n Conservation groups fight back<\/p>\n The decision is not sitting well with conservationist groups like the Center for Biological Diversity. Collette Adkins, carnivore conservation director and senior attorney for the organization, said, \u201cWolves made progress towards recovery across the country because of the protections of the Endangered Species Act.\u201d<\/p>\n She added, \u201cWhen wolves are federally protected, what we see is that the states work more closely with livestock operators, giving them more resources and tools.\u201d <\/p>\n The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife currently encourages\u00a0non-lethal deterrents<\/a>, such as removing livestock carcasses, increasing human presence, using fladry or temporary fencing, and installing alarms or light-based scare devices.<\/p>\n In 2024, Oregon\u2019s Department of Agriculture awarded $790,000 in grants for preventive measures and confirmed losses, up sharply from $478,000 the previous year, with\u00a0all requests for compensation fully granted.<\/a><\/p>\n Adkins worries that removing federal protections could send wolf numbers crashing again: \u201cWhen wolves lose federal protections, they\u2019ll just turn back to the Band-Aid shortcut of just killing the wolves.\u201d<\/p>\n A Democratic response from Congress<\/p>\n Congresswoman Janelle Bynum declined an on-camera interview but issued a written statement responding to the debate. \u201cSupporting farmers who feed our communities and protecting our vulnerable wildlife shouldn\u2019t be mutually exclusive,\u201d the 5th District Democrat said. \u201cI\u2019ll continue working in Congress toward conservation efforts that prioritize the livelihood of our farming families without compromising on protections for our endangered species and our environment.\u201d<\/p>\n The Problem Solvers made several follow-up attempts to clarify her position and dig deeper into the issue, but never received a response.<\/p>\n Rep. Bentz criticized her stance and urged her to spend more time with ranchers on the ground: \u201cShe needs to get out there and actually listen, because those people who run a McDonald\u2019s\u2014and she does, she owns a bunch of them\u2014should understand exactly where beef comes from. She serves it every day in her restaurants. And for her not to be aware of this additional cost being imposed upon the food chain that she relies upon is just amazing to me.\u201d<\/p>\n What delisting would and wouldn\u2019t change in Oregon<\/p>\n If the federal delisting goes through, it would not mean open season on wolves in Oregon. The state would still maintain strict protections for the species, and any lethal control would remain tightly regulated. <\/p>\n However, delisting would give farmers and ranchers somewhat more flexibility to kill a wolf that is actively threatening their livestock. Even then, officials stress that delisting would not mean widespread sport hunting of wolves across the state.<\/p>\n Oregon\u2019s wolf population rises, but so do depredations<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/PKG.00_01_59_23.Still005.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/PKG.00_02_00_08.Still004.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/PKG.00_01_08_03.Still003.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/PKG.00_01_31_02.Still006.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/PKG.00_01_50_20.Still007.jpg\")
<\/p>\n