Editor's note: The above video is from a 2018 story about the controversial killings of some wolf packs.
The state of Washington has recently killed three members of a wolf pack that are repeatedly preying on cattle in Ferry County.
The agency said Tuesday that since Aug. 6, it has killed one adult and two juvenile members of the OPT pack in the Kettle River Range.
This is the fourth time the Department of Fish and Wildlife has authorized lethal removal of members of the pack in order to change its behavior.
The Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation group, killed the killings tragic and sickening.
Earlier this month, a conservation group filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the state of Washington from killing more wolves from a pack that is preying on cattle.
The Maryland-based Center for a Humane Economy filed the suit in King County Superior Court, contending too many wolves have been killed as a way to protect livestock at a single ranch in the Kettle River Range in Ferry County.
The center and other conservation groups say it may be time to consider moving the cattle off Colville National Forest grazing lands that are also prime wolf habitat.
Most of the wolves are located in the rugged mountains of northeastern Washington, but they have started spreading to other areas of the state.
Officials say the state now has at least 126 wolves in 27 packs with 15 successful breeding pairs. For the first time, a pack has been found living west of the Cascade Range.
Gray wolves are no longer listed as an endangered species under federal protection in eastern Washington. They are still federally protected across the rest of the state, although the federal government is considering lifting those protections.
The OPT pack has been involved in numerous livestock depredations in Ferry County in recent weeks. The state's hunting of gray wolves from the pack continues.
