Idaho Wildlife Officials Waiting for Federal Wolf Management Money

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho wildlife managers have yet to receive federal funding to compensate ranchers for 2012livestock losses from wolves, as other Western states are also competing for a share of just $850,000 meant to offset losses from the predators.

The Times-News reports Dustin Miller, who heads Idaho's Office of Species Conservation, said the money will eventually be divided between paying ranchers for losses and funding efforts to avoid wolf-livestock conflicts. Federal officials say wolves killed 75 cattle and 330 sheep last year.

Hunters' success rates for the canine predators also improved significantly: Hunters and trappers killed 320 wolves in the 2012-2013 season, up from 200 in 2011, to trim wolf numbers statewide to roughly 638. Last year, federal government wildlife agents also killed 69 wolves after determining they were targeting livestock..