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(Stock photo) SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A wolf attacked and killed a dog that was guarding sheep near the Wyoming border, the Utah Department of Agriculture confirmed Wednesday.
The wolf killed the dog a week ago on private lands in the Chalk Creek area east of Coalville, Department of Agriculture spokesman Larry Lewis said.
Lewis said the 100-pound Great Pyrenees was no match for the wolf, which injured a second guard dog in the same attack. The other dog was missing for several days but turned up Wednesday nursing injuries from the attack, he said.
Wildlife officers were able to confirm the wolf kill by collecting fur from the scene, and a livestock herder reported that he saw a wolf limping away from the attack, Lewis said.
The wolf is still on the loose. An effort to trap it was unsuccessful.
Lewis said he couldn't identify the sheep herder or landowner because they don't want publicity that could draw tourists or vigilantes to their ranch.
State officials, meanwhile, are trying to confirm another report that a wolf or wolves killed a calf Tuesday near Hardware Ranch Wildlife Management Area, 15 miles east of Hyrum along the border of Cache and Rich counties.
Traps were being set Wednesday in that location, said Mark Hadley, a spokesman for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
Officials say wolves are becoming a problem in northern Utah for the first time since the 1930s. Among other recent attacks was a wolf that killed two calves, and a wolf that attacked livestock in northern Utah's Cache County in July.
In addition, "there's been plenty of sightings" of wolves in northern Utah this summer, Lewis said.
The Utah and U.S. departments of agriculture employ 10 trappers who live in remote areas of Utah to deal with nuisance coyotes, cougars, bears -- and now wolves.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
