ASOTIN COUNTY, Wash. — The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has killed two wolves, culling a pack that has been attacking cattle in Asotin County in southeast Washington.

The department issued a press release Monday announcing it had removed a male adult and yearling female. The wolves were killed Saturday, Aug. 26, according to people familiar with the matter.

Fish and Wildlife does not plan to kill other wolves in the pack, though it could consider removing more wolves if attacks on livestock continue.

The unnamed pack, referred to by the department as the WA139 wolf group, has killed at least five calves and one heifer in the southeastern corner of the state.

Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind authorized the lethal removal of wolves Aug. 23. It was the first time this year such measures were approved.

Nonlethal attempts by ranchers to prevent attacks have not stopped the predations, according to the department. Wolves have since May killed cattle belonging to four different ranchers.

Before the lethal-removal operation, the pack had four to five adults and an unknown number of pups, according to the department. Cattle have been killed on private land and a U.S. Forest Service grazing allotment.

The pack formed in January when the female wolf left the Tucannon pack. The pack was active in the spring in northeast Oregon, killing seven cattle, according to the Oregon wildlife managers.

A Wallowa County rancher shot a wolf in March. The state had issued the rancher a permit to remove one wolf.