This update provides an overview of gray wolf conservation and management activities in Washington during December 2021.
Program updates and coordination
- On December 2, WDFW staff gave a presentation to the Wolf Committee of the Fish and Wildlife Commission about the upcoming Wolf-Livestock Conflict Deterrence rule making process. More information can be found at the following links:
- December 2, 2021 Presentation to FWC Wolf Committee (PDF)
- Draft rule language and proposed rule changes presented to FWC Wolf Committee (PDF)
- Listen to the Audio Recording of the December 2, 2021 briefing to the FWC Wolf Committee.
- All information and documents related to this rule making will be posted at https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/regulations/development/wolf-livestock-conflict-deterrence.
- There is now a website for information regarding the upcoming periodic status review for gray wolves, available here: https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/regulations/development/periodic-status-review-gray-wolf
All information and documents related to this process will be posted there as they become available.
-
There is now a Wolf Advisory Group (WAG) recruitment FAQ (PDF) available on the WAG website to answer questions about becoming a WAG member.
Outreach and education
While on leave in Wisconsin for the holidays, a wolf biologist gave two presentations to the Suring High School and Middle School students about working as a carnivore biologist.
Current population status and proactive conflict mitigation
The year-end minimum population count for 2020 was at least 132 known wolves in 24 known packs including at least 13 breeding pairs. The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation reported 46 wolves in five packs. Annual wolf population surveys are conducted in the winter because wolf populations experience the least amount of natural fluctuation during this time. Counting the population at the end of each year allows for comparable year-to-year trends at a time of year when the wolf population is most stable. The year-end minimum population count for 2021 will be released in April 2022.
Reports of remote camera images or videos, wolf tracks, or sightings from the public are extremely helpful in locating previously undocumented wolf activity and potential new packs on the landscape. Please take photos of wolves or wolf sign (use some way to measure the size of a track) and upload them to the wolf reporting page via the following link: https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/at-risk/species-recovery/gray-wolf/observations
Definitions: A “pack” is defined as two or more wolves traveling together in winter, and a “breeding pair” is defined as at least one adult male and one adult female wolf that raised at least two pups that survived until December 31. In any given year, the number of packs will always be greater than or equal to the number of breeding pairs. The known territories and more information for each pack can be viewed by clicking the pack name.
Beaver Creek pack
No activity to report.
Butte Creek pack
No activity to report.
Carpenter Ridge pack
No activity to report.
Diobsud Creek pack
No activity to report.
Dirty Shirt pack
No activity to report.
Goodman Meadows pack
No activity to report.
Grouse Flats pack
No activity to report.
Huckleberry pack
No activity to report.
Kettle pack
No activity to report.
Leadpoint pack
No activity to report.
Lookout pack
No activity to report.
Loup Loup pack
No activity to report.
Naneum pack
The Naneum pack previously had two collared wolves. Both collared wolves dispersed from the territory and the district in December.
The first collared wolf, an approximately four-year-old male, captured and collared in February 2020, dispersed to northeast Washington, where he appears to have settled in the Stranger pack territory. To reach this pack territory, this wolf would have had to cross the Columbia River twice and swim Lake Roosevelt to end up in the Huckleberry Mountain range.
The second collared wolf, an approximately four-year-old male, captured and collared in January 2021, dispersed south and successfully crossed Interstate 90. Although WDFW has previously documented occasional evidence of wolves south of Interstate 90 (such as tracks and trail camera photos), this is the first collared wolf to successfully cross this interstate and allow for continued monitoring of its location. This dispersing wolf is still on the move and has not yet settled in a specific area.
Dispersing wolves, those leaving packs in search of their own mates, have been known to travel hundreds of miles away from their home territory, and can cover 30 miles or more in a single day.
Navarre pack
No activity to report.
Onion Creek pack
No activity to report.
Salmo pack
No activity to report.
Sherman pack
No activity to report.
Skookum pack
No activity to report.
Smackout pack
No activity to report.
Stranger pack
No activity to report.
Strawberry pack
No activity to report.
Sullivan Creek pack
No activity to report.
Teanaway pack
No activity to report.
Togo pack
No activity to report.
Touchet pack
No activity to report.
Tucannon pack
No activity to report.
Vulcan pack
No activity to report.
Wedge pack
No activity to report.
Miscellaneous/lone wolves
WDFW biologists observed four wolves in an area of new wolf activity (specifically, the Chelan Mountain Range on the south shore of Lake Chelan) in Chelan County while conducting aerial deer surveys. This sighting follows several detections of multiple wolves in the Entiat Meadows area in summer and early fall reported by hunters, U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel, and other members of the public.
Note: The Frosty, Nason, Nc’icn, and Whitestone pack territories are within Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (CTCR) lands and are managed under tribal authority. Information regarding these packs is proprietary and reported at the discretion of the CTCR.
Mortalities
- As reported on Dec. 9, WDFW staff responded to a report of a dead wolf on the side of a road in the area of new wolf activity in Columbia County on Dec. 5. A second yearling female wolf in this pack area was struck and killed by a vehicle.
- As reported on Dec. 9, a juvenile male wolf was legally killed under an authorized permit on Dec. 8 in the area of new wolf activity in Columbia County.
- As of this update, WDFW has documented eight wolf mortalities in 2021.
Depredation activity
Please report any suspected livestock depredations or the death or harassment of wolves to the WDFW Enforcement Hotline at 1-877-933-9847.
In 2020, 76% of known wolf packs were not involved in any documented livestock depredation.
There were no documented wolf depredations in December.
Below is a summary of packs with documented depredation activity within the past ten months (some packs have depredation history prior to the current ten-month window; this timeframe is considered based on guidance from the wolf-livestock interaction protocol (PDF)).
|
Pack |
Depredation date |
Depredation type |
Proactive non-lethals |
Ten-month window |
Agency lethal removal actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Beaver Creek |
9/5/21 |
Probable mortality of calf |
No |
7/5/22 |
|
|
Leadpoint |
3/26/21 |
Probable injury of calf |
Yes |
1/26/22 |
|
|
|
7/22/21 |
Confirmed mortality of one calf (died from injuries), confirmed injury of second calf |
Yes |
5/22/22 |
|
|
Naneum |
5/7/21 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
3/7/22 |
|
|
Smackout |
8/30/21 |
Probable injury of two calves |
Yes |
6/30/22 |
|
|
Teanaway |
11/8/21 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
9/8/22 |
|
|
Togo |
6/24/21 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
4/24/22 |
|
|
|
8/6/21 |
Confirmed mortality of calf (died from injuries) |
Yes |
6/6/22 |
|
|
|
8/17/21 |
Probable injury of calf |
Yes |
6/17/22 |
|
|
|
8/17/21 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
6/17/22 |
|
|
Touchet |
8/10/21 |
Confirmed mortality of calf |
Yes |
6/10/22 |
|
|
Area of new wolf activity north of Touchet pack and west of Tucannon pack (Columbia county) |
8/25/21 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
6/25/22 |
|
|
|
9/13/21 |
Confirmed mortality of calf |
Yes |
7/13/22 |
|
|
|
10/16/21 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
8/16/22 |
|
|
|
11/1/21 |
Confirmed injury of one calf, probable injury of two calves |
Yes |
9/1/22 |
|
|
|
11/15/21 |
Confirmed mortality of calf |
Yes |
9/15/22 |
Adult male lethally removed 11/18/21; juvenile male lethally removed under authorized permit on 12/8/21 |