ASOTIN COUNTY, Wash. — The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife plans to remove one or two wolves from a pack that has killed at least five calves and one heifer in the southeastern corner of the state.

Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind on Wednesday, Aug. 23, authorized the lethal removal of wolves. 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 ranchers.

The pack has 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 has not been named. The department refers to it as the WA139 wolf group for a collared female in the pack.

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.

Asotin County, Washington, ranchers have removed carcasses to keep from attracting wolves and tried to keep livestock safe, according to Fish and Wildlife. Ranchers have patrolled around herds, put up lights, added fences and kept younger cattle out of summer pastures.

Fish and Wildlife staff members concluded more non-lethal measures wouldn’t be effective and that attacks are likely to continue. Removing two wolves will not stop the state’s wolf population from growing, according to the department.