Wolf pup shot in Montana

The dead wolf was one of three pups released into a national forest south of Helena by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Federal officials said the wolf's coat was black, making it unlikely that the shooter mistook her for a coyote.

The three pups were captured by federal officials after several adult members of their pack, known as the Boulder pack, had killed some cows. The offending adults had been relocated to Glacier National Park, while the pups were radio-collared and released near Deer Lodge, Mont.

Last week's incident, which took place near that town, is only the most recent of several violent encounters between wolves and humans. In October, Montana resident Chad McKittrick was convicted for the April shooting of a gray wolf that had been reintroduced near Yellowstone National Park.

Wildlife officials were quick to point out that the dead wolf pup was not part of their wolf reintroduction program, but was a member of a wolf pack that migrated on its own from Canada. Nearly 100 such ''natural'' migrants now live in Montana.

News of the pup's death did not surprise Ed Bangs, head of the wolf reintroduction program, who noted that roughly 80 percent of gray wolf mortalities stem from human contact. "That's how wolves die," Bangs said.

This story written by the Outside Online staff