This update provides an overview of gray wolf conservation and management activities in Washington during November 2020.
Program updates
The Wolf Advisory Group held a virtual meeting on Nov. 19-20. Meeting notes and audio are available on the Wolf Advisory group page under the Meetings tab.
Communication and coordination
WDFW released a video titled How to Count a Wolf, which documents the methods used to monitor and count wolves annually. It shows the difficulties and dangers of helicopter surveys and capture, and how new research and technology may be able to survey the wolf population more safely and cost-effectively.
The WDFW Wildlife Program, Public Affairs, and Enforcement staff teamed up with students and a teacher from Cle Elum/Roslyn High School to produce a video on human-wolf encounters this past month. The video is currently being edited.
WDFW staff continued to coordinate with University of Washington (UW) professors and a postdoctoral research faculty member to develop a population model to help assess the projection of wolf recovery in Washington based on data from wolves recolonizing for the past twelve years. The UW group provided a presentation on that work to the Wolf Committee of the Fish and Wildlife Commission on Dec. 11.
Current population status and proactive conflict mitigation
The year-end minimum population count for 2019 was at least 108 known wolves in 21 known packs including at least 10 breeding pairs. The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation reported 37 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 2020 will be released in April 2021.
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
Biologists surveyed for wolf sign and checked remote cameras in this pack territory.
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
Biologists surveyed for wolf sign and checked remote cameras in this pack territory.
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
No activity to report.
Salmo pack
No activity to report.
Sherman 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
Biologists checked remote cameras in this area in November.
Togo pack
No activity to report.
Touchet pack
Biologists surveyed for wolf sign and checked remote cameras in this pack territory.
Tucannon pack
Biologists surveyed for wolf sign and checked remote cameras in this pack territory.
Wedge pack
No activity to report.
Miscellaneous/lone wolves
As snow started layering the mountains of Washington, biologists began winter wolf surveys by deploying trail cameras around the state to help estimate wolf numbers for the annual report and search for new packs. Biologists deployed several trail cameras in the south Cascades in areas near White Pass and Chinook Pass as well as in the Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens areas where reports of possible wolves have come in this past summer and during the fall hunting season. They will periodically check the cameras over the winter and add new cameras in other areas. Biologists also surveyed areas near Vulcan Mountain in Ferry County and an area north of Republic in northeast Washington where there have been reports from the public including trail camera photos of wolves. Additionally, biologists began deploying cameras and conducting track surveys in the Blue Mountains in southeast Washington.
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
No wolf mortalities were documented in November. As of this update, WDFW has documented eight wolf mortalities in 2020.
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 2019, 85% of known wolf packs were not involved in any documented livestock depredation.
There were no documented wolf depredations in November.
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 |
8/21/20 |
Probable injury of calf |
Yes |
6/21/21 |
|
|
Leadpoint |
6/19/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
4/19/21 |
|
|
|
6/19/20 |
Confirmed injury of two calves |
Yes |
4/19/21 |
|
|
|
6/19/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
4/19/21 |
|
|
|
6/28/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
4/28/21 |
|
|
|
8/3/20 |
Confirmed mortality of calf (calf died from injuries) |
Yes |
6/3/21 |
|
|
|
8/7/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
6/7/21 |
|
|
|
8/7/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
6/7/21 |
|
|
|
8/7/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
6/7/21 |
|
|
|
8/7/20 |
Confirmed kill of calf |
Yes |
6/7/21 |
|
|
|
8/10/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
6/10/21 |
|
|
|
8/10/20 |
Confirmed kill of calf |
Yes |
6/10/21 |
|
|
|
8/14/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
6/14/21 |
|
|
Togo |
6/6/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
4/6/21 |
|
|
Grouse Flats |
2/3/20 |
Confirmed kill of calf |
Yes |
12/3/20 |
Adult female lethally removed 9/25/19 |
|
|
8/12/20 |
Probable injury of calf |
Yes |
6/12/21 |
|
|
Smackout |
4/3/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
2/3/21 |
|
|
|
7/24/20 |
Confirmed kill of calf |
Yes |
5/24/21 |
|
|
Wedge |
5/11/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
3/11/21 |
|
|
|
5/19/20 |
Confirmed kill of calf |
Yes |
3/19/21 |
|
|
|
5/19/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
3/19/21 |
|
|
|
6/17/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
4/17/21 |
|
|
|
7/11/20 |
Confirmed injury of three calves |
Yes |
5/11/21 |
|
|
|
7/11/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
5/11/21 |
|
|
|
7/11/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
5/11/21 |
|
|
|
7/11/20 |
Confirmed injury of two calves |
Yes |
5/11/21 |
|
|
|
7/13/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
5/13/21 |
|
|
|
7/25/20 |
Confirmed kill of calf and injury of calf |
Yes |
5/25/21 |
Adult female lethally removed 7/27/20 |
|
|
7/29/20 |
Probable kill of calf |
Yes |
5/29/21 |
|
|
|
7/29/20 |
Confirmed injury of two calves |
Yes |
5/29/21 |
|
|
|
7/30/20 |
Confirmed injury of two calves |
Yes |
5/30/21 |
|
|
|
7/31/20 |
Confirmed injury of two calves |
Yes |
5/31/21 |
|
|
|
7/31/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
5/31/21 |
|
|
|
8/1/20 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
6/1/21 |
Adult male and female lethally removed 8/13/20 |