AVON, Cache County \u2014 The emergence of a photo showing three dead wolves in northeastern Utah has sparked a lot of reaction.<\/p>\n
According to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources<\/a>, the animals were shot and killed by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food<\/a> on Jan. 9 in Avon.<\/p>\n In much of the state, the wolves are federally protected. But in this one small area, the law allows for lethal action.<\/p>\n DWR spokesperson Faith Heaton Jolley told KSL the wolves were in an area where there is livestock. That area is also what\u2019s called a \u201cdelisted zone\u201d where the state is allowed to take action on wolves.<\/p>\n \u201cState law directs the DWR to prevent wolves from establishing breeding pairs in the delisted area of northern Utah,\u201d she said. \u201cCurrently, the delisted zone (the small area both north of I-80 and east of I-84) is the only area where the state of Utah has authority to manage wolves. In the rest of the state, wolves are still considered an endangered species and fall under federal control and protection.\u201d<\/p>\n Launie Evans, who lives in Avon, said she\u2019s seen wolves passing through, and sometimes she hears them.<\/p>\n \u201cI have not heard any of my neighbors, and we haven\u2019t had the experience ourselves that we\u2019ve had actual issues with our cattle and wolves,\u201d the livestock owner said.<\/p>\n She said, from her recollection, the wolves don\u2019t stick around.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve either seen them or neighbors or someone have seen them come through,\u201d Evans said. \u201cOn occasion, they\u2019ve even had collars and to my knowledge, have been relocated back to wherever they came from.\u201d<\/p>\n When she learned the wolves were killed close to where she lives, she was sad.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish they would have had a way to relocate them rather than kill them,\u201d Evans said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to see a calf killed either. Nature\u2019s hard.\u201d<\/p>\n KSL asked DWR why it chose not to relocate the animals.<\/p>\n \u201cThe law directs DWR to prevent the establishment of packs in the delisted portion of Utah, and we don\u2019t have jurisdiction over the ESA listed areas of Utah or other surrounding states. Lethal removals ensure they don\u2019t establish breeding populations in Utah,\u201d Heaton Jolley said in a statement.<\/p>\n