BOISE, Idaho >> For the past few years in Idaho, hunters, trappers and government officials have killed wolves in a variety of ways. One hunter hit a wolf with a snowmobile before shooting and killing it. Dozens of wolves had broken teeth, possibly from chewing the traps they were caught in.

But one particular state report struck wolf advocates as a red flag: Three pups born in the spring were killed weeks later, likely before they had left their den. Since 2021, trapping, hunting, government control actions, vehicles and natural causes have killed more than 1,400 wolves in Idaho. The Idaho Statesman obtained Big Game Mortality reports for each wolf through a public records request and reviewed them to learn more about wolf deaths in Idaho.

The reports are a routine part of documenting the deaths of predators like wolves, mountain lions and black bears. They showed where and when a wolf was killed and what weapon and method of take was used. Other categories include information on weight, coat color and age.

The reports are vital for researchers and wildlife managers to keep track of data about when, where, how and sometimes why a wolf was killed.

Many of the deaths seem typical for a state that has relaxed most hunting and trapping limits for the controversial species, including virtually eliminating any off-season. But wolf advocates — including former U.S. Fish and Wildlife wolf trapper Carter Niemeyer — said the records show a side of wolf killing that, while legal, is “reprehensible.”

The three pups were shot and killed with a rifle in the Idaho Panhandle on April 25, the same month pups are usually born, according to Fish and Game information online. Wolf pups usually spend six to eight weeks in a den before they’re weaned.

Fish and Game wolf biologist Katie Oelrich confirmed to the Statesman that the pups killed “would likely be less than one month old.”

Niemeyer, who helped reintroduce wolves in Idaho in the 1990s, said in a phone interview that wolves have been “reduced to vermin” in the state, prompting hunting and trapping that violates the ethics he abided by personally and professionally for decades.

“Those pups are innocent,” he said. “I don’t see absolutely any justification for killing pups in a den.”

Niemeyer said hunting wolf pups or any young animal is extremely unusual.

Hunting and trapping regulations frequently provide parameters that prevent killing extremely young animals.