Gray Wolf Conservation and Management

Washington Wolf Packs: Teanaway

2010

In response to remote camera images of a large wolf-like canid collected by citizen science volunteers in 2010, a survey effort that included WDFW, U.S. Forest Service (USFS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Conservation Northwest, and the Western Transportation Institute, was conducted in the Teanaway Valley in the North Cascades.  This effort produced multiple remote camera images of at least three large canids.     

2011

As a follow-up to the remote camera photos and surveys, WDFW captured a lactating adult female in the pack in June 2011 and fitted her with a GPS/VHF radio-collar.  Genetic analysis confirmed this animal to be 100% wolf and that she was a descendant of the Lookout Pack.  In September 2011, a yearling female was also captured and fitted with a GPS/VHF radio-collar.  The presence of a yearling wolf indicates this pack has been in the area since at least spring of 2010.  At the end of 2011 there were three adults and four pups in this pack, and it was considered a successful breeding pair.

In August 2011, a sheep was killed on a Forest Service allotment within the home-range of the pack.  While several wolves, including one with a radio-collar, were seen near the sheep carcass by the herder, a thorough investigation indicated a cougar had killed the animal and the wolves were scavenging on it.  At the time, there was an altercation between the wolves and a herding dog that was disrupted when the herder fired a gun into the ground.  The dog survived and recovered; WDFW paid the veterinarian bill, using funds from a USFWS grant and matching funds from Defenders of Wildlife designated for proactive non-lethal preventative measures and compensation for livestock documented to be killed or injured by wolves.  Guarding and herding dogs are considered livestock under WDFW’s wolf conservation and management plan.  In response to the event, the UFWS, USFS, and WDFW worked with the herder to secure the sheep with fladry at night and no further problems were reported.  

WDFW News

• Fourth state wolf pack confirmed - July 5, 2011

Images

Radio-collared Teanaway Pack wolf (in recovery from tranquilizing drug)

Photo courtesy of Western Transportation Institute

The following three images from Conservation Northwest volunteer-placed remote cameras began an investigation by state and federal agencies to confirm the presence of wolves in the area. Photo courtesy of Conservation Northwest

Photo courtesy of Conservation Northwest

Photo courtesy of Conservation Northwest