Male yearling wolf that ‘lost its fear of people’ struck and killed by vehicle on state Hwy. 138 in S. Oregon

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) – A male yearling wolf from the Indigo Pack who had lost its wariness of humans was struck by a vehicle and killed Tuesday on state Highway 138 near Lemolo Lake in southern Oregon, authorities said.

The wolf, designated OR-143, was struck near the intersection with the road that leads to the lake, Meghan Dugan of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said Wednesday.

Dugan said the wolf had “lost its wariness and fear of people, likely from being fed by people.”

The wolf will be further examined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, she said.

OR-143 wasn’t behaving like wolves typically do around humans, leading state officials to believe that people had likely been feeding her from cars. 

“I’m heartbroken to learn that a yearling wolf from the Indigo pack has died,” said Amaroq Weiss, senior wolf advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. “As a member of one of very few wolf families living in western Oregon, he was a crucial part of the state’s wolf recovery. Being struck by a car is almost inevitable when people feed wild animals from their cars, because those animals lose their fear of both vehicles and their human occupants.”

Weiss noted that a longtime wildlife researcher once said, “Wolf habitat is primarily defined by rapidly moving metal objects: cars and bullets.”

"Today’s revelation sadly proves that true," she said.