Crying over spilt wolf

The taxpayers of Washington state ought to be with numbers like these;

Killing seven members of a wolf pack that repeatedly attacked a Northeast Washington rancher’s cattle cost about $76,500, according to preliminary state figures.

The amount includes all hunts targeting the Wedge Pack, which is believed responsible for killing or injuring 16 calves last summer belonging to the Diamond M Ranch in Stevens County.

Almost $5,000 per dead calf, and that's only part of what has been spent;

When the state was developing a wolf management plan, officials estimated that Washington would spend about $400,000 on wolves annually. The state has spent about $376,000 on wolf activities this year, including culling of the Wedge Pack.

Originally the residents of the state used to kill the wolves themselves.  Rather more efficiently; 

Wolves are re-establishing themselves in the state nearly a century after they were exterminated through hunting, trapping and poisoning. The new wolves are migrants from Canada and from other states.