"Hayward shot the wolves after they approached a bait pile near his camp, said Lt. Skip Hagy of the DNRE's Newberry field office. He cut off the radio tracking collars that two of them were wearing and tried to hide the remains, but someone discovered them the next day and tipped off authorities, Hagy said (http://www.clickondetroit.com/community/26997410/detail.html)." So, this not a case of rancher protecting his livestock. The man was a poacher and tried to hide the evidence.
For Lakota,
"Hayward shot the wolves after they approached a bait pile near his camp, said Lt. Skip Hagy of the DNRE's Newberry field office. He cut off the radio tracking collars that two of them were wearing and tried to hide the remains, but someone discovered them the next day and tipped off authorities, Hagy said (http://www.clickondetroit.com/community/26997410/detail.html)." So, this not a case of rancher protecting his livestock. The man was a poacher and tried to hide the evidence.