DALE — Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife investigators have confirmed a case of wolf depredation on livestock in Grant County that took place Friday, Sept. 22.

A dead 10-month-old steer, determined to have been killed by a wolf, was found in the Board Gulch area on a leased pasture allotment of public forest land in northern Grant County near Dale.

The depredation was attributed to a wolf from the Desolation Pack, which had eight known wolves as of last year, said Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife assistant district biologist Ryan Platte. The number may have decreased this year due to dispersal, he said.

An unknown number of pups were also born in the pack around May, Platte said.

“There were multiple bite scrape marks observed … on the hide of the back legs, above the hock,” Platte said.

Typically, attacks are made by the alpha male or alpha female of the pack, Platte said, but there’s no way to tell if that was the case in this instance.

The depredation occurred east of Highway 395, which is a dividing line in Oregon that helps to determine whether a lethal take permit can be authorized, but the issuance of such permits must also involve two confirmed depredations by the same wolf pack or group within a nine-month period.

The Desolation Pack “has met the requirement (2 depredations in a nine-month period) for lethal removal requests; however, at this time ODFW has not received any requests,” Platte said in an email.

ODFW officials in Salem must also evaluate whether the livestock producer utilized non-lethal methods to prevent depredations, Platte said.

“The producer has to also document that he’s done non-lethal cattle management, such as picking up bone piles,” Platte said. “If there’s any attractants on the landscape that have brought the wolves into the area, we will not issue an authorization for lethal removal.”

ODFW has also updated the investigation categories and definitions used to describe the findings of wolf-livestock investigations to be more concise, consistent and to avoid confusion, officials said.

Beginning this month, findings will be categorized as confirmed, probable, unknown, or not wolf. Previously, the categories were confirmed, probable, possible/unknown or other.

The last two designations — “possible/unknown” and “other” — created confusion, officials said.

“The nomenclature got changed, but not the criteria to get to those categories,” Platte said. “It just makes it a little easier to convey during these investigations and clears up some of the confusion on some of the classifications.”

The latest confirmed depredation makes the fourth this year for Grant County. ODFW confirmed a wolf depredation at a ranch northwest of Seneca, along the Izee Highway in Bear Valley, following the discovery of a dead 1-week-old calf on June 15.

The June 15 attack was attributed to the Murderer’s Creek wolves, a pair composed of a male wolf with black fur and a (presumptive) female wolf with gray fur, Platte said.

The Murderers Creek pair were deemed responsible by state wildlife managers for another confirmed depredation after an investigation that found injuries to a six-week-old calf on private land on May 29. The two wolves live west of Highway 395, where wolves are federally protected from being hunted because they are considered endangered.

An earlier confirmed depredation this year was attributed to the Desolation Pack after ODFW investigated an attack on two four- to six-week-old calves injured on May 28.