Gov. Greg Gianforte of Montana violated a state searching requirement final month when he trapped and killed a wolf close to Yellowstone National Park with out first taking a mandated trapper training course, state officers stated on Tuesday.

Mr. Gianforte, who has a license to hunt wolves, obtained a written warning for the violation, based on Greg Lemon, a spokesman for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “We’ve treated this as we would anybody” in a related scenario, he stated. “It’s important to us the integrity of our process, no matter who we’re dealing with, is maintained.”

Mr. Gianforte trapped and shot an grownup black wolf on Feb. 15 close to Yellowstone National Park, Boise State Public Radio reported on Tuesday. Morgan Warthin, spokeswoman for Yellowstone National Park, stated the wolf, No. 1155, was born within the park, was estimated to be 6 or 7 years previous and had been collared by park biologists in 2018.

“Once the wolf left the park, it no longer was considered a Yellowstone wolf,” she stated.

Montana laws require that wolf traps be checked at the least as soon as each 48 hours, that wolves harvested be reported inside 24 hours and that the cranium and hides be inspected inside 10 days of being killed, Mr. Lemon stated. Referring to the governor, Mr. Lemon stated, “Everything had been done the way it was supposed to,” apart from finishing the wolf-trapper certification class.

Telephone messages left with Mr. Gianforte’s employees on Tuesday weren’t instantly returned. Brooke Stroyke, a spokeswoman for Mr. Gianforte, instructed The Associated Press that the governor had “immediately rectified the mistake.” Mr. Gianforte signed up for the primary out there course, scheduled for Wednesday, Mr. Lemon stated.

Ms. Stroyke instructed The A.P. that this was the primary wolf the governor had killed.

The one-time certification class, which lasts about three hours, teaches trappers about wolf biology, finest practices for trapping and associated laws, Mr. Lemon stated. “The class is geared toward the ethical harvest of wolves.”

The episode got here as Mr. Gianforte is predicted to obtain, and help, a number of payments geared toward loosening wolf searching and trapping laws, together with permitting the usage of neck snares and offsetting sure prices for trappers.

Critics have urged Mr. Gianforte to not loosen the state’s wolf searching and trapping laws.

“The use of neck snares for wolves is particularly cruel,” Kitty Block, president and chief government of the Humane Society of the United States, wrote on her blog final month. “Wolves have extremely well-muscled necks and suffer greatly when trapped in these devices.”

On Tuesday, referring to the governor’s wolf trapping episode, Ms. Block wrote, “Gov. Greg Gianforte should have known better.”

Mr. Gianforte, a Republican former congressman, was elected governor in November, with the help of the Montana Trappers Association.

“Trapping is part of our Montana way of life,” Mr. Gianforte stated on the time, News Talk KGVO reported. “Make no mistake, the effort to stop trapping in Montana is an attack on our heritage,” he stated.

This was not Mr. Gianforte’s first brush with searching regulators. In 2000, Mr. Gianforte illegally killed an elk and was issued a $70 ticket by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Mr. Lemon stated.

In June 2017, Mr. Gianforte was sentenced to 40 hours of group service and 20 hours of anger administration lessons for assaulting a reporter the evening earlier than he gained a seat within the House of Representatives.