Wyoming man cited for capturing live wolf; details are disturbing

A Wyoming man who allegedly captured a wolf, taped its mouth shut and brought the animal to a bar before killing it was fined $250 for possession of a live wild animal.

A reasonable punishment?

That’s bound to fall under debate as news of the reported incident, said to have occurred Feb. 29 in Sublette County, begins to spread.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department did not issue a news release providing details regarding the case. The man, who appears to have been hunting when he encountered the wolf, has not been identified.

The Cowboy State Daily reported Tuesday that while it’s legal to kill wolves in parts of Sublette County, the Nov. 29 case “could spark enough outrage to shake Wyoming’s wolf management policy.”

(Wolves in Wyoming were removed from the endangered species list in 2017, leaving it up to the state to determine hunting regulations.)

The Cowboy State Daily added that a records request for Game and Fish written reports regarding the alleged incident was “still pending at press time.”

However, Game and Fish spokeswoman Breanna Ball provided the following statement:

“An anonymous reporting party notified the Wyoming Game and Fish Department that an individual was alleged to be in possession of a live wolf. The reporting party notified the Department on March 1, 2024. According to the investigation, the individual possessed the live wolf on 2/29/24.

“The individual was hunting when he came across the wolf in the predator zone and intended to harvest it. However, the wolf was transported alive back to his residence and later to a business in Daniel, WY. The individual euthanized the wolf later that day.

“The individual was cited for violating Chapter 10, Importation and Possession of Live Warm-Blooded Wildlife.”

That carried a $250 fine.

Much of Wyoming is considered a “predator zone,” where hunting for wolves is legal with no tags required, as long as kills are reported.

Portions of the state within Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park remain off-limits to hunting.

–Generic gray wolf image courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service