As Federal agencies and farmers call for removing the gray wolf from the US endangered species list, a member of a species appears to have killed a calf in rural Stevens County, Washington. According to a US Fish and Wildlife Service press release, the kill ''appears to be the first confirmed wolf depredation on livestock in Washington State.''

The kill, which happened sometime around September 4, was on a farm on the US-Canadian border, where the cows roam free, the USFWS' Tom Buckley told me via Email. So it's unclear whether the wolf was from Canada or the US.

USFWS agency staff ''observed large canid tracks around the carcass, which showed injury and trauma signs indicative of a wolf kill,'' according to the release.

The USFWS sees the reintroduction of the gray wolf into Idaho, Washington, and other western states as a success story, and farmers are eager to de-list a species they say threatens to harm their livestock, as this wolf seems to have. The same goes for hunters. ''As wolf populations recover across the west, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed delisting the gray wolf in the northern Rocky Mountains, including the eastern one third of Washington State east of highways 97 and 17,'' the release notes. There was a call for public comment on that proposal earlier this summer, and Washington State, which also lists the species as endangered, is coming up with a plan to manage the population if the wolf is delisted.

In the meantime, USWFS agents ''will attempt to capture the wolf in northern Stevens County and equip it with a radio collar that uses satellite technology so that its movements can be monitored. The information will help determine if the animal is a resident or simply moving through the area, and whether it is alone or part of a wolf pack.''

If the wolf if just moving through the area, it had better have a passport by the end of September.